Exhibition: Regarding Nature
A photographic exhibition, funded by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and the British Ecological Society, is being held at the GroundWork Gallery in Norfolk from 23 June – 16 September 2018.
Regarding Nature is an exhibition which tells some big stories about landscape. Through the eyes of French photographer Chrystel Lebas and her scientist predecessors in the early 20th century, it focusses on the plants and landscapes of the North Norfolk coast.
It traces the development of intensive study, via the development of British Ecology and the Wildlife Trusts, to the acute vision of the contemporary artist. And the exhibits and the accompanying programme, document some of the subtle changes to the coastal environment over a hundred years.
Regarding Nature features spectacular panoramic photographs, and photograms by French photographer Chrystel Lebas. Chrystel’s plant and landscape studies have followed in the wake of scientist Sir Edward James Salisbury, whose documentation of the topography and coastal plants in Norfolk was part of the impetus for founding the British Ecological Society in the early 20th Century.
Chrystel’s work has not only paralleled this initial research but gone beyond it to contribute a whole new spectacular interpretation of plant detail in these subtle marsh landscapes. There is also an underlying story revealed of the complex interactions which influence landscape change.
Dusk, when nature gradually changes colour and takes on a new atmosphere, is for Lebas the best moment of the day, which she captures with long exposure times and a panoramic camera. This gives her pictures a breath-taking stillness and a certain melancholy.
The dramatic coastal end ecological changes that have happened since the area was recorded scientifically some 100 years ago are explored in a programme of discussions and field trips accompanying the exhibition in conjunction with the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and supported by a British Ecological Society Outreach Grant.
GroundWork Gallery is open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. during exhibition dates and is based at 17 Purfleet Street, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, PE30 1ER, UK.
About Chrystel Lebas
The French landscape photographer Chrystel Lebas has gained international recognition for her panoramic photographs taken at twilight. This exhibition at GroundWork Gallery is part of the original Regarding Nature, first shown at Huis Marseille, Museum for Photography in Amsterdam in 2016-17, from a project curated by Bergit Arends, formerly at the Natural History Museum, London. She is internationally acclaimed, previously exhibited at – amongst others – Victoria and Albert Museum, London; The Photographers Gallery; London; Scottish National Portrait Gallery; Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijecka, Croatia. Chrystel Lebas, Field studies: Walking through Landscapes and Archives, published by Fw:books – winner of best Dutch book designs in 2016, is on sale as part of the show.
Like what we stand for?
Support our mission and help develop the next generation of ecologists by donating to the British Ecological Society.