Magda Biernat
Adrift
“My photography often explores the notions of home, habitation, displacement, the bridging of distance and lives that straddle borders. Although most of my photographs are devoid of people, I like to think that they express a great deal about the imprint humans leave on their environment.”
Madga Biernat’s Adrift focuses on the effects of global warming through the photographic study of abandoned hunting lodges in the Arctic alongside melting ice formations in Antarctica. With climate change, the average temperatures at the north and south poles are rising rapidly. Massive icebergs in the south are crumbling into the sea, while in northern Alaska, caribou and sea mammals traditionally hunted by the native Iñupiat for survival are dwindling in number and changing their migration patterns. Biernat’s masterful pairing of deserted Iñupiat hunting cabins and shrinking Antarctic glaciers invites us to witness the visual interconnectedness of these two rapidly changing ecosystems.
Originally from Poland and currently based in New York City, Magda Biernat is a photographer specializing in architecture and interiors. She received her MFA in New Media from Transart Institute based in Berlin and New York City. Biernat is the former photo editor for Metropolis Magazine and her work has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times, National Geographic, Interior Design, Wallpaper, Metropolis, Dwell, and Afar. Her photographs have been exhibited nationally and internationally, with exhibitions in Poland, Belgium, France, the UK, Canada, the Philippines, Taiwan and the United States. She is a recipient of the Center 2016 Director’s Choice Award, Reminders Photography Stronghold Grant, LensCulture 2015 Emerging Talents Award, TMC/Kodak Grant, Lucie Foundation Awards, and Magenta Foundation Flash Forward award. Her work is represented by Robert Klein Gallery in Boston and Clic Gallery in New York City.