Gideon Mendel
Burning World. Portraits in Ashes
The rise in global temperatures has led to an unprecedented increase in the intensity of wildfires worldwide. Gideon Mendel has documented this reality in regions such as California, Australia, Greece, Canada, and Colorado—scenes of some of the most devastating fires in recent decades that have destroyed homes, caused numerous deaths, and ravaged millions of hectares of land. These areas have experienced some of the highest temperatures ever recorded, triggering infernos that have left behind desolate landscapes and shattered communities.
Rather than capturing the flames in action, this work focuses on the aftermath of the fires—the marks they leave on lives and landscapes. In this scene of destruction, the protagonists of this project are framed by the skeletal remains of their burned homes, pausing before the camera with dignity and resilience, inviting us to connect with the devastated world around them.
To create coherent images and effectively tell this story within the visual chaos that follows wildfires, each composition is crafted with extreme precision.
Through this repeated act of portraiture, the aim is to build a systematic typology of climate change.
Gideon Mendel (Johannesburg, South Africa)
He is known for his work committed to global social and environmental issues. He began his career as a photographer in the 1980s, documenting the final years of apartheid in South Africa. This work positioned him as one of the “struggle photographers,” dedicated to exposing social and political injustice.
In the 1990s, he settled in London, from where he has continued to develop long-term projects on issues of global significance. His work on the AIDS crisis in Africa, captured in the book A Broken Landscape: HIV & AIDS in Africa (2001), stands out, along with various initiatives in collaboration with humanitarian organizations such as Médecins Sans Frontières, UNICEF, and ActionAid.
His most renowned project, Drowning World, initiated in 2007, explores the impact of climate change through portraits of people affected by floods worldwide. This work has gained international recognition and has been featured in the Prix Pictet and exhibitions at prestigious institutions.
Mendel has received numerous awards, including the W. Eugene Smith Award for Humanistic Photography, six World Press Photo Awards, and the Leica Oskar Barnack Award. His work combines photography and video, creating visual narratives aimed at raising awareness of the human and social consequences of global crises.
