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Ashes and Snow - a Review.
Carola Lott | Marion Institute | March 7, 2005

Although the night of March 3rd was fearsomely cold, over three thousand people showed up at the Hudson River Park’s Pier 54 for the New York opening of Gregory Colbert’s Ashes and Snow.   Colbert has traveled to countries around the world including India, Egypt, Burma, Africa and Antarctica to photograph animals in beautifully choreographed compositions that are mysterious and deeply moving.  Colbert says he tries to “explore the shared language and poetic sensibilities of all animals [to] rediscover the common ground that once existed when people lived in harmony with animals.  The images depict a world that is without beginning or end, here or there, past or present. I hope that the overall effect is an experience of wonder and contemplation, serenity and hope.” 
 
The photographs, there are over 200 of them as well as a one hour film, are exhibited in the Nomadic Museum, the first of its kind.  This 45,000 square foot cathedral-like space created by architect Shigeru Ban is the perfect setting for these spiritual works.  The walls are made from shipping containers and the columns and roof are fashioned from paper tubing.  Everything is recyclable, and when the show closes in June the entire museum will be disassembled, packed up and shipped to the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles, where it will be rebuilt for the next exhibition of Ashes and Snow.  From there it will travel to the Vatican.
 
The show has been organized by the Bianimale Foundation that Colbert created to support “all forms of artistic _expression to increase public awareness of and support for the protection and conservation of animals and their natural habitats.” 

For a glimpse of Colbert’s photographs, we encourage you to explore Ashes and Snow online.