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FADING FACES

The installation shows a dystopian picture of the future where the animals and their habitat have been destroyed by humanity. The project is based on this vision of te future where the animals in the pictures have been exterminated and the only thing left is burnt down and lifeless forests.

Man’s world domination - with it’s destructive autonomy - is based on lack of compassion and respect for life.

In the human animal manages to define concepts that equalize and affect the symbiotic and harmonious ecology, will a broader understanding of care, empathy and respect apply to more than just man? Can one thus create a broader and more diverse understanding of community - before it is too late and the dystopia turns to reality?

The images will serve as a gift to the next generations where they can again create memories through visualizations.

Interview questions posed by Adam Donaldson Powell (artist/author/critic – Norway) and Katya Ganeshi (author/artist/animal rights activist – Russia).

ADP: Good morning! This exhibition is fascinating — both in terms of the subject matter and ideas behind the exhibition, and the amount and quality of the artistic work put into it. Katya and I would like to pose some questions to you.

Karl-Kristian, can you tell us about your own process as regards this art project … What was the impetus, how did you go about planning and executing the travel, cooperations and permissions to photograph these beautiful animals? And what is the intention of the exhibition? Is this a teaching and social learning exhibition as well as an exhibition of your creative ideas and skills?

KKJH: I have always had a deep connection with nature. The main force that got me started with this specific project was from watching a documentary named “Virunga National Park”. Listening to the rangers’ stories and hearing them say, “I’m willing to sacrifice my life for the national park and the animals living here” resonated deeply with me. Before traveling, I find someone local that can take me around the county that I am visiting, we create a plan for the trip, and then I go there.

For my art installation “Fading Faces” I have captured images from five different countries, displaying faces of animals that the human-animal easily recognise itself with: monkeys. The art installation is made to help the human-animal open its heart to the living world around them. It is a combination of teaching for social learning, and of showing my creative ideas and skills. Personally, I feel that Art should give the participants something to think about and feel.

ADP: Do you have any stories or anecdotes from this four-year process — regarding challenges and difficulties, amazing or funny experiences? Please tell us about some of these.

KKJH: When photographing one can become consumed by the process, always wanting to achieve the best that one can do. When I started the project my focus was much on capturing the absolute best expressions I could get, but that focus did not allow me to enjoy the moment. The mentality of always criticising oneself, and of not being satisfied with what I had sometimes gave me the sensation of drowning.

The installation shows a dystopian picture of the future where the animals and their habitat have been destroyed by humanity. The project is based on this vision of te future where the animals in the pictures have been exterminated and the only thing left is burnt down and lifeless forests.

Man’s world domination - with it’s destructive autonomy - is based on lack of compassion and respect for life.

In the human animal manages to define concepts that equalize and affect the symbiotic and harmonious ecology, will a broader understanding of care, empathy and respect apply to more than just man? Can one thus create a broader and more diverse understanding of community - before it is too late and the dystopia turns to reality?

The images will serve as a gift to the next generations where they can again create memories through visualizations.

So I have let myself step back and observe more, thus allowing myself to be more playful. This has given me much joy, and I think it has made me a better photographer. I have had many wonderful experiences while traveling, and they out-weigh the bad ones. Many situations have been scary: like being charged at by two big silverbacks or having a big male orang-utan swinging down from a tree and trying to grab me. Now, looking back, I think of them all as good stories.

ADP: There has been much debate in recent years regarding various ethical issues in relation to artists’ usage of animals (living and dead) in art exhibitions. This particular exhibition embraces social responsibility and the ethic of “doing no harm”, whereby neither the animals nor their environments have been harmed or influenced negatively.

Can you tell us about your own artistic and social ethics/politics as regards the question of using animals in Art? Is this exhibition not about allowing the animals to teach humans about better respecting other animals, our shared and not-shared habitats … and eventually saving all species, including humans ourselves? Speak freely, as an artist and as an animal lover.

KKJH: For me speciesism informs my practice. Moral obligation and respect for life are essential in my works. Much of my art — not just my photography — encourage greater awareness to the natural world. Animals and nature have indeed been a source of inspiration for artists through the centuries. I think that we have to look at creating art including non-human-animals in an ethical way. Much as with art including the human-animal, there are many things artists would not do as it is inhuman.

It seems to me that some artists don’t always take care of and respect the content that is displayed in their art; but that is perhaps merely a reflection of human societies’ brutality towards the planet. This lack of moral obligation might be the reason why the artist can at times seem to be a cruel and savage person. Or it can be that one tries to mirror the human species lack of empathy towards the living world. In the end, as the creator of art, one has to consider what is ethically right, and not.

ADP: You have primarily chosen to make these portraits in black-and-white. I personally feel that black-and-white portraiture is oftentimes quite effective in portraiture, in that it adds to the mystery, subjectivity, and intimacy of the moment captured.

But why have you — the artist — mainly chosen black-and-white photography for this series? What cameras and lenses have you used? How close were you able to get to the animals, and where were these photos taken?

KKJH: I think that accepted standards of how a photograph is “supposed” to be displayed has informed us in the way of choosing classic black and white. It has taken photography a long time to be accepted in the Art World. As the black and white format was the first to arrive, it apparently has more value to some than others. Through this four year journey of photographing I now see myself enjoying color photography much more, and it was not until after being introduced to analog photography I came to love colour photography.

The old photography masters thought that black and white is the way to display the soul, and that colour can not do so. That can be hard to argue against as one has learned and thought that it is a factum.

Photographs displaying the souls of the animals i have encountered is what one will see in the installation. I have selected four photographs that are shown in colour, two shot on a digital camera, and two shot on medium format film. To me, the vibration of colour is an important aspect of truth and artistic expression, and I’m still learning about how different people perceive the colour images in contrast to the black and white ones.

I aim to show more of what I personally love, through my photographs … and the colour images are some of the favourite ones in the eyes of the visitors. For the installation I have used four different cameras. I started with a Canon 5D Mark iii, before investing in a Canon 1DX Mark ii, a Leica M10 and a Mamiya afd645. There have been a varity of lenses used, my main choice of lens being a Canon EF 28-300mm, as the build and function suits me. The 25 different photographs are shot in Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Indonesia.

The level of professionalism surrounding the governance of the different national parks has varied, and there are rules in place regarding how one should act around these wild animals. You may get close, but not too close — this for both the safety of the animals as well as your own. We can transmit disease between each other. Sometimes the limit for the distance is broken, for example when a young gorilla punched me playfully in the ribs.

ADP: What is the hoped-for effect of this exhibition? And where do you hope to take it in the future?

KKJH: The aim is to open up peoples’ minds and hearts to the living world around us. I want to show the installation to as many people as possible, and I care more about the impact it makes than completely selling out the photograph series. I have gotten much positive feedback from the people who have visited the exhibition.

ADP: And now, Katya Ganeshi, my colleague in Russia has a few questions to ask you, Karl-Kristian.

KG: How can human thinking be changed with the help of monkeys (and other animals)?

KKJH: For example: the construct of the alpha male in human society, where one has oe be strong, fearless, ruthless and not connected with what’s looked upon as feminine is different within other groups of animals. When experiencing chimpanzees I have (of course) seen the side that we humans refer to as being an alpha. However, that is only one side of being the leader of the group; one also has to be loving and to care for the others in the group. To me that is true strength.

KG: Can monkey-thinking outperform human-thinking in the future?

KKJH: If society as known fails and we no longer have a system to depend on for our survival, many of us will starve to death as food could then no longer be obtained at stores. We will then have to go back to our roots: being hunter-gatherers living off the land. As of today most humans cannot perform the task of feeding oneself without the comfort of our society. When we then look to the animal kingdom we can see them being able to sustain themselves, and I think we have much to learn from them when it comes to living with nature instead of destroying it.

KG: The philosopher Bruno Latour considers modern scientists to be the same “savages and barbarians.” Do you share his opinion?

KKJH: Sadly there is a lot of harm being done in the name of science “for the better of humanity”. Playing at being gods and harming life through this justification is a sure sign of speciesism.

ADP: Thank you Karl-Kristian, Jesper, and Katya. Katya and I wish for the best of success with this most important exhibition.