THE DAY MAY BREAK-Nick Brandt Hangar September 19, 2025 | December 21, 2025

Nick Brandt creates powerful tableaux that blur the line between allegory and documentary. In the first two chapters, his subjects are enveloped in mist, enhancing a suspended, almost surreal atmosphere, as if the end of one world and the dawn of another meet in the fragile moment of the photograph.

Marked by silence and emotion, her photographs blend beauty and desolation, evoking both tenderness and loss. They transcend geographical and cultural boundaries to remind us that the climate crisis is a universal reality: whether they live in Zimbabwe, Bolivia, the Fiji Islands, or Jordan, the faces in this series all embody the same struggle, the same dignity.

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They are all among the many countries that are the least responsible for climate breakdown. Their global carbon emissions are and have been tiny compared to industrial nations. Yet, like so many other poorer countries in the world, they are disproportionately harmed by its effects. The grim irony is that many people in these countries are the most vulnerable to the calamitous consequences of the industrial world’s ways.

As we move through these images, we are invited to slow down, to feel, to reflect. This is not simply about witnessing a tragedy unfolding, but about questioning the role we choose to play: will we be passive observers of collapse, or active participants in renewal?

Nick Brandt

Nick Brandt was born and raised in London, where he studied painting and film at Saint Martin’s School of Art. In 1995, while directing Michael Jackson’s epic music video Earth Song in Tanzania, he fell in love with the animals and landscapes of East Africa.
In 2001, Nick Brandt decided to fully dedicate himself to photography, beginning his first series, including a seminal trilogy: On This Earth, A Shadow Falls, and Across The Ravaged Land (2001–2012), all shot in East Africa. He continued with Inherit the Dust (2016), highlighting the contrast between nature and destructive development, and This Empty World (2019), revealing a world where coexistence between humans and nature is increasingly impossible.

In 2010, he co-founded the nonprofit Big Life Foundation, which protects African ecosystems through collaboration with local communities and anti-poaching efforts. Since 2020, he has been working on The Day May Break, a project now comprising four chapters, bringing together people and animals affected by climate change and environmental destruction. All series have been published as photobooks.

Nick Brandt’s works are regularly exhibited worldwide, in galleries and museums, including Fotografiska (Stockholm), Fahey/Klein Gallery (Los Angeles), and Edwynn Houk Gallery (New York). His series The Day May Break was recently shown at Newlands House Gallery (Petworth), Chungmu Art Centre (Seoul), Fahey/Klein Gallery (Los Angeles), and the whole project – Chapters one to four – will be exhibited in 2026 at Polka Galerie (Paris) and Galleria d’Italia (Turin). All four chapters are being presented together for the first time at Hangar, including a preview of the unpublished Chapter 4: The Echo of Our Voices. This chapter is partly funded by the Galleria d’Italia Museum (Turin).

His books such as On This Earth (2005), A Shadow Falls (2009), and Across the Ravaged Land (2013) have become landmarks in the field of environmental photography. The book The Echo of Our Voices, the fourth chapter of The Day May Break, published by Skira Editore in Milan, will be officially launched during the exhibition at Hangar.

Nick Brandt has received numerous awards for his photographic work and ecological commitment, including the Lucie Award for International Photographer of the Year (2009) and the Green Good Design Award (2017).

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