Photography

As part of his ongoing exploration of our complex and questionable relationship to the natural world, Whelan has photographed non-human subjects affected by overpopulation and errant light pollution. Using a polaroid film that has long been discontinued, access to otherwise inaccessible spaces was made possible. For 'Nocturne 1', a series of black and white polaroids were made inside a bat enclosure in Vienna. In a tenebristic fashion, the artificially constructed environment appears out of the darkness: hand modelled walls replicating stone, fruit is stuck to a branch, a CCTV camera is hidden in the shadows. During each exposure dozens of bats passed before the lens. Even with the high speed film, their presence is ephemeral, reflecting the precarious sustainability of nature itself.