Charles Xelot
White Water
Nov 7 - Dec 21, 2024
White Water – The Frozen Dreams of Arctic Seafarers
The immaculate and deadly vastness of the Arctic has always attracted adventurous spirits, those who wanted to touch the edge of the world, test their own limits and find breathtaking inspiration. For this project, I traveled on and around the Russian Arctic Ocean. I got a shocking, if modest insight into the life of the sailors in the far north.
Commercial shipping needs certainty and results to justify its colossal investments. Failure is not an option. The huge ships that ply the Arctic Ocean carry gas, oil or building materials - the full power of human engineering is harnessed to cross the ice. The nations are in competition with each other; the objective is no longer glory and the conquest of territory as in the past, but market share and economic influence. Geography gave Russia a huge advantage, as it had the largest Arctic coastline and the only commercially exploitable sea route.
Along the capes named by the explorers of the past, thousands of anonymous men sail. These ice seafarers travel through space in huge steel boats. The men survive protected by the shells of the ships, while outside the omnipresent white and the merciless cold stretch to infinity. The days are the same, with the same routine, the same colleagues, the same dangers. Only the landscape varies: the ocean comes in thousands of shades, from the darkest grey to the brightest white.
I'm both fascinated and terrified by the technical power being deployed to exploit the Arctic's resources. The new factories exporting liquefied gas, the gigantic tankers and nuclear icebreakers; all this technological debauchery at the service of our everyday comfort. Gas exported by sea is used to take showers, cook, and heat our homes. To maintain our comfort, we are already exploiting the ends of the earth. And then, where do we go after the ice? The Arctic is our planet's barometer, and the pack ice is melting while industrialization continues. But these considerations are far removed from those of the sailors, who must keep the ships moving. They are also caught up in the upheavals of history.
Some of the sailors I met became friends. I often think of them, of our conversations, their hopes, their doubts, and the great white we shared. This life in the Arctic seas is a life of contrasts, between the warmth of overheated cabins and the freezing cold outside, between the breathtaking beauty of the pristine Arctic landscapes and the terrifying power of the machines that traverse them.
Charles Xelot (French, b. 1985, he/him/his) is a French photographer who explores the most extreme environments to document man's ability to modify his surroundings. In recent years, he has taken a particular interest in the Russian Arctic.
His photographs, without seeking to sensitize, are a record of the dramatic transformation that human activity and technology have inflicted on landscapes.
Through his explorations of inhospitable and industrial environments, he highlights the complex relationship between man and nature, documenting our relentless quest for technical power. Charles Xelot illustrates the human fascination with power through the beauty of his images. Each photograph is a delicate balance between the majesty of inhospitable landscapes and the grandeur of human achievement. In this juxtaposition, he creates a captivating aesthetic that evokes man's blindness to the consequences of his creations.
His photographs are a call to examine our impact on the planet, an exploration of the limits of our own power, and a celebration of the surprising beauty that emerges from our fascination with power.
In recent years, he has collaborated with several foundations and corporations, and his work is regularly published and exhibited internationally.