When worlds collide

Since 2001, Nick Brandt has documented the plight of animals in East Africa through his striking photography. His latest project, This Empty World, has marked a radical departure… not in subject matter but because, for the first time in his career, he shot with digital cameras and in colour.

This Empty World is a series of pictures that were shot in two stages – in exactly the same location but at different times – and then edited together to produce visually intriguing final images. Stage one was remote photography of wild animals and stage two was photographing local people, almost always within large-scale sets, live at the same locations.

Planning and mistakes

The project was shot in Kenya, not far from Amboseli National Park, at 10 different locations. Brandt reveals, ‘Months of R&D