Gideon Mendel Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1959 -

Born in Johannesburg in 1959, Gideon Mendel studied Psychology and African History at the University of Cape Town. On completing his degree, he became a freelance photojournalist, documenting the impact of Nelson Mandela's release from prison in 1990. Since then, he has worked with photography and film to expose moments of conflict and crises across the world.

The Drowning World series explores the global impact of climate change, but also the ramifications for individuals and their families.

The project began in 2007, when Gideon Mendel was called on to photograph two floods, one in India and one in the UK. The two disasters occurred within weeks of one another, and Mendel was struck by the difference in response. The flooding in the UK received international media coverage and immediate aid relief. In India, the victims were largely left to fend for themselves.

Since then, the artist has travelled around the world visiting flood zones, documenting the impact on the local people. He claims that the photographs are a way of bearing witness to a shared human experience, one that "erases geographical and cultural divides":

"In a flooded landscape, life is suddenly turned upside down. Normality is suspended, and human beings must adapt, strategize. The Submerged Portraits are at the heart of the Drowning World project. My subjects often invite me back to their homes...in these dystopian and disconcertingly abnormal environments, I try to make the moment when I press the shutter calm and connected as I engage with my subjects. My intent is for their gaze to challenge the viewer and be part of a shared portrait of humanity in crisis in the face of natural disorder - a disorder that humankind has played a role in precipitating." (Gideon Mendel, 2015)

The current two photographs were taken in Nigeria when flooding devastated the area of Igbogene in Bayelsa State in 2012. One portrays a former bakery-owner, Florence Abraham, waist-deep in water. When her house and bakery were submerged, Florence and her five children were forced to flee, abandoning all their possessions and equipment. The second photograph depicts traditional healer, Joseph Edem, with his wife and children outside the gates of their home. The floods inflicted four hundred casualties in Igbogene alone, but the incident received relatively little press coverage. Mendel's photographs seek to redress this wrong, bringing the plight of these people to an international audience.