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Please join Paolo Pellegrin and Magnum Director of Exhibition Andrea Holzer in a discussion about the artists impressive and emotive work in Antarctica. Paolo joined NASA's IceBridge expedition to document the impact of climate change on the Antarctic from above.

“From up there, it’s ecstasy in front of the magnificent. I think I understood what the romantic notion of the sublime was: It’s not only the absolute beauty of these landscapes, it’s the sensation of finding yourself in front of a presence that speaks of eternity,” says Pellegrin. “I knew I was looking at something exceedingly beautiful – like a Sistine Chapel of nature – a beauty that is hard to grasp but which also contains something which is not well.”

Just how unwell the Antarctic is, forms the focus of NASA’s annual IceBridge expedition. The operation, which began in 2009, is part of an 11-year campaign to yield an ‘unpresented’ three-dimensional view of Antarctic and Arctic.

While this may be unfamiliar territory for Pellegrin, it wasn’t as alien as it may seem. He has spent much of his career covering historical events, many of which convey suffering and conflict in the Arab world. The Antarctic is simply another kind of battleground; in place of political strife and fighting, icebergs melt and sea-levels rise. “I have photographed conflicts for many years; things that man does to man. Yes there is tragedy but there is also a form of resilience, which can express itself in many ways; in an act of survival, courage, honour or love,” he says. “And you could say that the warming Arctic – on another order of magnitude and scale – is another conflict. Here, man isn’t present but climate change is a result of human activity and human ideas: Endless growth which has no limits.” - Paolo Pellegrin

For more information on this project please see the MAGNUM website.