AMIPP 2020 – Earl Mallia

Statement of Intent

With this body of work ‘The Land of Fire & Ice’ I want to share my innermost and personal experience that explores the relationship between man and nature.

Since this was my first time visiting this amazing country, I had to plan well ahead for the images I wanted to capture. Naturally, intensive research was needed in order to capture images that echo the message I wanted to deliver.

During the whole trip I felt more alive than usual, the diverse grandiosity of nature that surrounded me with different elements from beautiful green pastures to glaciers and volcanoes made me reflect in awe at the mystical elements and power of nature. It was a photographic trip but at the same time, a personal search of my deep relationship with nature. I could not help but realise that my presence seemed insignificant and how small we all are compared to those vast. wonderful locations, particularly when untouched by humans. I could not but wonder in awe that I was in places which had not changed for millennia.

My main goal was to portray that feeling through my lens, to show the viewer the scale of the human figure in relation to the vastness of this land and to make them possibly feel as if they are present and experiencing the connection. It is impossible to convey the grandeur and feel of those places on a two dimensional medium, but I tried to get as close as possible.

As a photographer, I emphasised the emotional recreation of the viewer and the journey of the human state into the wilderness which portrays this story through landscape photography.