The exhibition The Day May Break – The light at the end of the day, curated by Arianna Rinaldo, brings together for the first time the four chapters of a major photographic project devoted to the consequences of the climate crisis for humans and animals.
The exhibition presents 63 large-format images by British photographer Nick Brandt, a leading figure in contemporary environmental photography.
Launched in 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, the series The Day May Break marks a decisive step in the artist’s career. While his earlier work focused mainly on landscapes and wildlife, here Brandt places human communities facing the effects of climate disruption at the center of his gaze. The project unfolds across different regions of the world, often among those least responsible for the ecological crisis yet among the hardest hit by its consequences.
Born in Oxford in 1966, Brandt has, since the early 2000s, developed an engaged body of work devoted to the gradual disappearance of the natural world and the impact of human activity on the planet. His photographs, recognizable for their refined aesthetic, combine formal beauty with a tragic dimension, intensifying the subjects depicted.
Each chapter of The Day May Break is the result of a long process of preparation and collaboration with local teams. The meticulously constructed scenes bring humans and animals together within the same frame, captured in suspended atmospheres. Brandt works with natural light and the vagaries of the weather, in a demanding process that then continues with weeks of printing and image selection.
The first chapter, made in 2021 in Kenya and Zimbabwe, was photographed in sanctuaries that take in animals rescued from poaching and the destruction of their habitat. The portraits place these animals alongside people displaced by climate disasters—cyclones or droughts—in almost surreal compositions that suggest a shared dignity in the face of loss.
The second chapter, made in 2022 in Bolivia, continues this reflection on another continent. In a territory marked by exceptional biodiversity but weakened by fires, floods, and drought, Brandt photographs individuals and animals confronted with environmental collapse, united by the same resilience.
With SINK / RISE, the third chapter, made in 2023 in Fiji, imagines the near future. The protagonists are photographed underwater, engaged in everyday gestures, evoking the fate of communities threatened by rising sea levels and the foretold disappearance of their lands.
The exhibition concludes with The Echo of Our Voices (2024), the fourth chapter commissioned by the Intesa Sanpaolo Museum. Made in Jordan, the series depicts families of Syrian refugees living in a condition of permanent displacement, in a desert landscape that has become a symbol of water scarcity and climate tensions.
A complementary section also reveals the behind-the-scenes of Brandt’s work, through photographs and videos that highlight the complexity of each staging and the collaboration with local communities.
At once a visual meditation and a cry of alarm, The Day May Break thus asserts itself as a powerful photographic manifesto. Through the force of his images, Nick Brandt reminds us that the fates of humans, animals, and the planet are inseparable, and that the climate crisis concerns all living beings.
Jean-Jacques Ader
Nick Brandt at the Gallerie d’Italia in Turin (Italy) with the Intesa Sanpaolo Museum, from March 18th to September 6 2026 ; exhibition curated by Arianna Rinaldo. https://gallerieditalia.com/it/torino/mostre-e-iniziative/mostre/2026/03/18/nick-brandt-the-day-may-break-in-mostra-a-torino/
