Presentation of Photographic artist Zana Briski
February 2, 2026
FLAT // LAND is thrilled to announce the European presentation of photographic artist Zana Briski. The presentation will debut at MIA Photo Fair BNP Paribas, followed by a presentation in the MAIN section of ART ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands.
Zana Briski is a filmer, photographer, artist and wild life researcher. For over 35 years, she has traveled alone to remote wild places, photographing animals from the smallest insect to the largest whale. Her work reflects a profound commitment to the natural world and an urgent call to witness its rapid disappearance.
“While I am on nature’s time, I feel urgency to communicate my vision of the natural world as I watch species after species rapidly disappear from the planet by human hand,” says Zana.
Zana is the recipient of an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, an Emmy Award, and 33 additional international awards for her seminal documentary “Born Into Brothels”, a film she directed in the first part of her career in 2004. Her other amazing project is REVERENCE, which is inspired by visions of a praying mantis. These insect portraits take hours of collaboration as she holds eye contact and allows for a deep merging of consciousness.
Her most recent project NIGHT WILD – PHOTOGRAMS OF ANIMALS MADE IN THE WILD are life-sized photograms of animals made at night directly onto photographic paper, without a camera, lens, or negative—only time, presence, and trust.
These photograms include the apparition of a Black Rhino, American Black Bears, Crab-Eating Fox, Aye-Aye, African Alephant, CapyBara, Ostrich, South American Tapir, Southern Cassoway, Western Grey Kangaroos, Coatimundi, Giant Anteater, Malayan Civet and many other animals, including tiny butterflies, beetles and insects.
FLAT // LAND selected two Black Bears from NIGHT WILD. One is sitting and resting; the other is making his way in the night.
Fiona van Schendel, Director of FLAT // LAND, reflects on their first meeting: ‘It was Dr. Elizabeth Cronin, curator at the New York Public Library, who introduced me to Zana because of the love we share for wild life. We met in Paris. Being with Zana changes how one thinks about wild life or any animal as a matter of fact. She invites you to walk new, clearer paths in life! Encountering these photograms feels like stepping into a fairy tale; magical, sensitive and dazzling. They are a direct impression of a wild animal onto photographic paper. Thus what emerges is not an image of an animal, but a physical imprint of an encounter—part shadow, part apparition. The effect is visceral and profound”.