All images by Nydia Lilian. Used with Creative Commons Permission.
It cannot be denied that much of our existence depends on nature: from the air that we breathe, our basic needs, the science that furthers our minds, and the art that fuels our drive to create. This is why the potential destruction of nature — whether it’s through some cataclysmic event or man-made causes — is something widely explored by creative minds and critical thinkers. Today’s photography inspiration is a product of such inquisitiveness, taken by Mexican photographer and Graphic Designer, Nydia Lilian.
In her thought-provoking series, AFTER — LIFE 2015, Nydia imagines Earth transitioning to a state of post-nature. In this idea by scientists and futurists, nature has ended pretty much everything or nature itself has gone extinct, and mankind has no other choice but to find ways for life to continue on its own. Through her craft, Nydia brings us to an unsettling future where nature is on the brink of collapse brought about by a destructive combination of factors such as “impacts of human activity, ecology, politics, and geological time.”
A possible “remedy” to this scenario, as Nydia has found, lies in a “hybridized nature” where “digital models” are “physically integrated into the urban landscapes of emerging economies as if it were a technological replacement.” AFTER — LIFE 2015 imagines what kind of landscapes such measure would produce, and “contemplates the chance of conceiving the development of a new natural order from the very boundaries between science and fiction.”
At first glance, there seems to be nothing out of the ordinary in Nydia’s landscapes. They’re just as beautiful as we see them today, as wonders of nature both breathtaking and humbling. Towering mountains, dreamy shorelines, and stunning skylines are rendered in both moody monochromes and vibrant colors. But she also throws in the question: in these images of “after-life” where does nature’s work end and man’s imitation begin?
Make sure to visit Nydia Lilian’s Behance page to browse through the complete AFTER — LIFE 2015 and check out the rest of her beautiful landscape photography.
