Fallen trees. Verdant landscapes. Lofty mountains overlooking deep rolling valleys. The stunning natural beauty of the subjects of Israeli-born, London-based Ori Gersht’s photography leaves viewers breathless. But the natural splendor belies the significance of these locations as the sites of historical events we can no longer plainly see.
In Ori Gersht: Force of Natures—Film and Photography, the evolution of the artist’s basic process is explored in a series of powerfully expressive full-color photographs. Searching for traces of the past, Gersht translates the process of remembering into images. The majestic peaks of the Pyrenees, for instance, are revealed in the photographer’s thoughtful focus as the site of a desperate flight from Nazi-occupied France. Throughout his works, Gersht unfolds a complex metaphor for the impenetrable relationship between the past and present, death and life.