In The Wake by David Uzochukwu, is one of twelve series of powerful photographs by 13 international photographers exploring the topical theme of ‘fire’ will be presented in the exhibition Prix Pictet: Fire at the V&A, London, 16 December 2021 – 9 January 2022.
‘Fire’ is the theme for the ninth cycle of the Prix Pictet award. “Fire has hardly been out of the news since the inferno that consumed Notre Dame in Paris in 2019. We have seen record rainforest blazes in the Amazon, forest and bush fires in Australia and conflagrations in California. It is the fourth element. Fire destroys and it renews. Fire means survival, renewal, and economic prosperity. Yet our abuse of this most capricious of elements is the source of most of our environmental woes.”
In The Wake is a series of portraits set within a landscape on fire. With all historic and geographic markers removed from each image, the bodies in the photographs are submerged into the landscape and removed from the confines of their social reality.