Ashes and Snow: Gregory Colbert’s Dreamlike Photographs
“Gregory Colbert believes that there is a shared desire for all species to participate in one universal conversation. He sees nature as the greatest storyteller of all and himself as an apprentice to nature. His works are collaborations between humans and other animals that express the shared poetic sensibilities of all species.
“Colbert’s Ashes and Snow is an ongoing project comprised of photographic artworks, a one-hour film and two short film “haikus,” and a novel in letters all presented in a purpose-built temporary structure called the Nomadic Museum.
“Colbert’s images, visceral yet dreamlike, return us to a place we long for but cannot name. His photographs and films reawaken an ancient memory in us of a time when we lived in balance with our animal kin. Since we first painted their silhouettes on the walls of caves 35,000 years ago, animals have inhabited our stories, our dreams, and our imaginations.
“Since he began creating his singular work of Ashes and Snow in 1992, Colbert has undertaken filming and photographic expeditions to every continent to collaborate with more than one hundred species around the world. Colbert, who calls animals “nature’s living masterpieces,” photographs and films both wild animals and those that have been habituated to human contact in their native environments. There is no digital collaging. The images record what he saw through the lens of his camera. While Colbert uses both still and movie cameras, the photographic images are not taken from the film.”
