Language: Bilingual in English and German
Natura Morta is a photographic series by the photographer Oliver Mark, who was born in 1963. Taken in the evidence room of the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation in Bonn in 2015 to 2016, it shows products that have been found on incoming travelers at the border and confiscated. These are components of protected animals and plants, snakeskin clothing, for instance, or items made out of horn or ivory. Oliver Mark's ambition is to present these objects in a manner that focuses the beholder's attention on the preciousness of the exotic souvenir but, little by little, prompts him to reflect. The photobook contains commentaries by renowned authors such as Barbara Hendricks, Rainer Vollkommer, and Philipp Demandt, who take up and underline the theme of biodiversity and the threats that it faces today. The project's aim is to stir people's consciousness and demonstrate that biodiversity is life-sustaining for our species.