Kalle Katalia: Shepherd, 2008

Kalle Kataila's Shepherd was featured in reGeneration 2: Tomorrow’s Photographers Today, the second book in Aperture’s series shining a spotlight on the next generation's rising stars, some of whose work will be available for purchase for the very first time. The sale of these prints will help support these emerging artists—and give collectors an opportunity to acquire their work early in their careers.

This photograph depicts a desert-like landscape; where usually we expect wide-open skies, we are presented with a black void. As with other images in Katalia’s Landscape and Contemplations series, it also features a strategically “placed” figure that looks—as we the viewers do—out at the landscape. Surrealistically, this figure seems to be a shepherd who guards plastic chairs. As in the landscapes of German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich, a figure, seen from behind, stands at the centre of the landscape, and seems fascinated by the spectacle he is observing. Kataila’s protagonists change, but they all seem to disregard the human being. The characters themselves appear absent from the scene.

Each limited-edition print is hand-packed with great care and ships from New York within 3–5 days.