Ashes and Snow

Ashes and Snow is an ongoing project by Gregory Colbert, who, over the course of fifteen years, has made more than forty expeditions to India, Egypt, Myanmar, Tonga, Sri Lanka, Namibia, Kenya, Antarctica, the Azores, Borneo, Belize, and many other locations, to photograph interactions between people and animals--who he calls “nature’s living masterpieces”.

His twenty-first century bestiary includes totemic species from around the world. The project includes 50 large-scale photographic artworks, a 60-minute feature film, two 9-minute film “haikus”, and an engaging online website that can serve as a portal into Colbert’s world, if you cannot attend in person.

When I first discovered Gregory Colbert’s work, I felt as if I had fallen into an unparalleled parallel universe. It was a peaceful landscape, bathed in rich sepia tones, with extraordinarily beautiful and unusual visions of animals and humans in relationship. These creatures co-exist and create what feels like powerful music. The animals are respected and revered, photographed in their natural environment in all their wildness, as the men, women, and children connect with them in a dreamy, sometimes ecstatic, meditative state. The result is awe inspiring work.

Ashes and Snow first opened at the Arsenale in Venice, Italy in 2002, to critical acclaim. It moved on to New York City in 2005, Santa Monica in 2006 and Tokyo, Japan in 2007. The next stop on the migration path of this continually unfolding project is Mexico City in early 2008.


“The whales do not sing because they have an answer, they sing because they have a song.”

Much more at www.ashesandsnow.org

-Storm Maxwell