Shroud 8, 2018
Shroud 2, 2018
Simon Norfolk (British, b. 1963)
Shroud series, 2018
Archival C-print 40 x 50 in.; 41 x 51 in. framed
Nigerian-born British photographer Simon Norfolk documents global conflicts, technological change, and the effects of social and political development on the land. His Shroud series depicts a portion of the Rhône Glacier in Switzerland that has been covered in thermal blankets to forestall further melting, thus seeking to extend the life of a local tourist attraction. The resulting images evoke the iconography of lamentation to represent climate change. In describing the project, Norfolk has observed: “There is something insane about trying to reverse the inevitable. The gesture is as forlorn and doomed as the glacier itself.”
Norfolk’s work is represented in collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts Houston; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. In 2011, he was the subject of a solo show at Tate Modern in London, featuring work documenting the war in Afghanistan. Norfolk has received numerous awards including the Commission of the Prix Pictet in 2012, Le Prix Dialogue at Les Rencontres d’Arles in 2005, The Infinity Prize from the International Center of Photography in 2004, and the Foreign Press Club of America Award in 2003.
More information about Simon Norfolk can be found here: