MATI GELMAN
Fossil Fools

My fascination with the natural world and my fear of what we are doing to it is expressed in most of my work. There is a haunting element of breath, or lack of, connected both to the pandemic and rising levels of carbon dioxide.
In 1937 the remaining percentage of wilderness (amount of forests in the world) was at 66%. In 2020 we are currently at 35% and shrinking. This took only 83 years.

"Forests are a fundamental component of our planet’s recovery. They are the best technology nature has for locking away carbon. And they are centers of biodiversity. The two features work together. The wilder and more diverse forests are, the more effective they are at absorbing carbon from the atmosphere." - Words by David Attenborough.

Models: Gabe Amato, Nicole Harley, Misha Hajj, Estefano Gil.
Make up and prosthetics Joseph Oster.

Author
Mati Gelman is a commercial and fine art photographer. He earned a Bachelors in Science in Biochemistry from the Technion - The Israeli Institute of Technology in Haifa and a Masters in Science in Chemistry from The Bar Ilan University in Tel Aviv. Mati turned to photography after moving to New York City. Mostly self-taught, he continued his education at The International Center for Photography (ICP) and Pratt Institute in New York City.

Mati's images explore sexuality, queerness, and human integration with nature, sparking a sense of unease. ​Originally a chemist manipulating matter and molecules, Mati now manipulates pictures and pixels with a focus on accentuating that exploration.

Website
www.matigelman.com

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