Just three percent of the world鈥檚 land remains ecologically intact, with healthy numbers of all its original animals and undisturbed habitat. According to聽, the average size of wildlife populations fell by a staggering 73% between 1970 and 2020, and a 2022 study warned that more than 1 in 10 species could be lost by the end of the century.聽Photographer聽Zed Nelson鈥檚 latest project asks the question: how did we let ourselves get here?聽The Anthropocene Illusion聽is the result of six years of travel, during which Nelson visited 14 countries across four continents to observe how humans immerse themselves in increasingly artificial landscapes. People holiday on synthetic beaches and ski on false snow, observe endangered animals in zoos and aquariums, or else take part in luxury experiences that encroach upon ecosystems and habitats.The Anthropocene Illusion saw Nelson named Sony World Photographer of the Year in 2025, and now, images from the series are on display at Somerset House. We caught up with the artist to chat about his reputation for looking society鈥檚 most pressing issues in the eye and what he hopes international audiences take away from聽The Anthropocene Illusion.
A: Take us back to the start. How did you begin working behind the lens?聽
窜狈:听I remember getting hold of an old Pentax camera when I was around 10 years old. I went out into the country and started photographing a cow. I had this strange feeling of being able to look at something that I鈥檇 previously ignored. Photography gave me not only the ability, but a reason, to examine the world around me. It was remarkable because suddenly I saw this cow in a different way. I got closer and closer to it and then started taking close-up shots of its eyes and face. I felt an entirely different relationship to the animal. That was probably my earliest meaningful interaction with photography.聽
A: You鈥檝e dedicated most of your career to addressing some of contemporary society鈥檚 most pressing issues 鈥 gun control, the beauty industry, gentrification. What draws you to these topics?聽
窜狈:听I鈥檝e worked on a lot of projects over the years. I started out with international reportage, photographing wars and famine. Over time, I began to feel like the mainstream media wasn鈥檛 interested in telling complex stories. I wanted to do something different. I鈥檓 often drawn to big questions of how we have been brainwashed by large industries or sold a certain narrative. For instance, I worked on a three-year project about American gun culture, which was an exploration of how the gun industry concocted a narrative to sell weapons. Somehow, they managed to equate the idea of guns with a patriotic symbol of freedom. Then suddenly, you have a country that is awash with weapons, has a huge death rate and nobody is willing to look at the truth of what鈥檚 really happening. That鈥檚 when it gets interesting to me, because then I feel like I鈥檝e got something to say. I鈥檇 also been in Afghanistan and seen guns from America, Russia, China and Britain, superpowers who were producing guns and flooding other countries with them. I wanted to track back to the source. I also worked on聽Love Me,聽which was a five-year project that looked at how the western beauty ideal has been sold globally. Again, it鈥檚 a form of brainwashing. I wanted to interrogate how in every corner of the world, a largely Caucasian, blonde-haired, blue-eyed image has been held up as the ideal, in order to sell more products. I鈥檝e also made a film about gentrification in Hackney. I grew up there, so I鈥檇 watched how house prices had rocketed, and property developers were profiting off that.聽聽I鈥檓 interested in working out how, as a photographer, I can tell a story about the things that matter to me in a way that鈥檚 useful, or that can play a role in a larger conversation. It鈥檚 about trying to have a voice.聽
A: How do you see art functioning as a form of activism?聽
窜狈:听When I started in photography, I thought I could change the world and that the camera had this enormous power. I felt that if you shone a light on injustice, that somehow the world would respond and everything would get better. That belief took a big hit, and I became more cynical and disillusioned. I reemerged from this negative state of mind with a new perspective, believing that there is a demand for more engaging, interesting and complex stories. One project can鈥檛 change the world, but it can contribute to a conversation that鈥檚 happening in our culture. When you break it down, I鈥檓 interested in storytelling. I use art, journalism, filmmaking 鈥 but it all comes back to storytelling. It鈥檚 not standing in the street with a placard, but it is a form of activism. I operate on the assumption that every single decision we make as humans is based on what we鈥檝e learned and seen and experienced. That includes people who make horrible decisions and do awful things. I might have become a little disillusioned with the idea of individual power to change things, but I鈥檓 not disillusioned about the importance of how stories shape our actions.聽
A: How have people responded to your work? Does it differ depending on where you are in the world?聽
窜狈:听Very much so. When聽Gun Nation聽came out, it was published in 15 different European magazines, but it wasn鈥檛 until it was exhibited in America that I started to receive death threats. I鈥檇 been on TV shows like聽Good Morning America听补苍诲听The Charlie Rose Show, so that reached a very mainstream audience. I ended up doing a lecture tour at around 15 American universities, and most of them were good, respectful crowds. However, one of them drew 600 protestors from the National Rifle Association, who tried to disrupt the talk. The project had an extraordinary affect, and whilst I didn鈥檛 enjoy some of that, it was also quite exciting to see that I鈥檇 made something that had generated such a response. It gave me faith that I was saying something important. With the beauty industry, it was quite different. I had lots of reactions from young people, often women, saying that they鈥檇 seen the work in an exhibition and it had helped them understand the pressures they鈥檇 been put under by modern society. My film,聽The Street,聽which is about gentrification, had possibly the best response of all. I鈥檝e had so many messages from people saying they were moved by it, or it had shaped their outlook in some way, which is really gratifying.聽
础:听The Anthropocene Illusion聽was created over the course of six years, featuring 14 countries across 4 continents. How did the project develop over time?
窜狈:听The Anthropocene Illusion聽grew out of this idea that as we destroy the natural world, we are engaged in a process of creating ever more artificial versions of it. We make choreographed version of nature to retreat into, hide from ourselves and what we are doing. Any long-term project is not easy, because they鈥檙e expensive. I have to work slowly in order to raise funds for these trips. This also had a benefit, because you鈥檙e more thoughtful. I鈥檓 researching the whole time, looking for how I can expand the project. Lockdown happened in the middle of this, which made it really complicated. You鈥檙e constantly thinking: 鈥渄oes it make sense?鈥 鈥渋s it worth doing?鈥 鈥渋s it going to have any success?鈥 These are all serious questions, but you can鈥檛 answer them. You can only hope they鈥檒l work out. I always make a joke, particularly with filmmaker, where it鈥檚 like getting your sleeve caught in some machinery at a factory and it just sucks you in. There鈥檚 a point of no return, where it would be insane to give up but also feels impossible to continue, you just have to push on. Once you get through that barrier, you鈥檙e at the very heart of it.聽
A: You describe modern nature as a 鈥渟tage-managed experience.鈥 Can you tell us more about what this means? Was there a specific moment this idea became clear to you?聽
窜狈:听Sometimes you need several different things to overlap for them to lead you somewhere. I already had all of this background context of the serious issue of climate change, and spent a lot of time trying to understand the complexity of what鈥檚 happening and what can be done. Then I鈥檇 heard the term 鈥淎nthropocene,鈥 which essentially means that we鈥檙e living in an epoch that is characterised by human activity driving environmental change. Scientists and geologists are saying that our impact on the planet is so devastating that in 200 years, we鈥檒l be able to see it in the sedimentary rock under our feet. I chose to name the project聽The Anthropocene Illusion聽became at this time of catastrophic behaviour, we have chosen to create an illusion to hide from ourselves the reality of what we鈥檙e doing. The final, personal moment that this all clicked was when I was exhibiting聽Love Me聽in聽Troms酶, Norway, which is above the Arctic Circle and visited an ocean museum called Polaria. I went into this area downstairs and there were two bearded seals on a fibreglass rock with a little swimming pool. All around them were things made to look like the Arctic, with sodium lighting above them. These two creatures were living so close to their natural habitat, so why were they forced to be in there? In a way, it鈥檚 convenience. It鈥檚 like fast food. You don鈥檛 have to go to the coast and you don鈥檛 have to get your feet wet to look at seals. Here, they are brought to you in a kind of pretend world, it鈥檚 鈥渟tage-managed.鈥 It鈥檚 not as though I stood there and all of a sudden,聽The Anthropocene Illusion聽was fully formed in my mind, but it was something that had an effect on me.聽
A: Talk us through your process. How do you plan a shoot?聽
窜狈:听I do a lot of research, so by the time I go somewhere, I know where I鈥檓 going to visit and what I鈥檓 going to do. One good example of this is of a chimpanzee in a Chinese zoo, photographed against a painted backdrop. I鈥檇 seen photographs of that zoo online and I knew I wanted to visit. I could tell from their website that there would be a number of things that would potentially be interesting for the project. Once I鈥檓 there, it鈥檚 a matter of creating the best chance of getting a meaningful image. For me, that means time. I spent two days photographing the chimpanzee. It鈥檚 a matter of patience and focus, setting the camera up on a tripod and being still for long enough. I also use a medium format film camera, which is quite old-fashioned, so it forces you into a slightly more meditative way of looking. This project, more than any other, was the one I鈥檇 planned the most. It鈥檚 enjoyable having chance encounters and stumbling across things, but I didn鈥檛 have that luxury because this project was too geographically wide. I couldn鈥檛 just hope for the best.聽
A: Are there any particular scenes or photographs that have stuck with you as particularly poignant or impactful?聽
窜狈:听That chimpanzee is definitely one, when you sit still and observe not just a creature, but it鈥檚 setting, it can be really revealing. It鈥檚 also important to watch the humans and how they behave around the animal. The other picture that genuinely disturbs me to this day is of a polar bear in a fake environment. This was in China, in a sort of wildlife park, and there was very little space or ice for that bear. I found it very troubling. Again, I was there for several days, and its painful to think of that creature living its life out in that environment. What鈥檚 happening in places like this is an insatiable appetite for spectacle, for nature to be brought into these choreographed settings. It means that in places like China, there are polar bears in refrigerated, plastic worlds in shopping centres. In setting up this project, I didn鈥檛 want it to become just about cruelty to animals, even though that鈥檚 something that matters greatly to me. It鈥檚 about illusions, so I had to be careful that it didn鈥檛 become so depressing that audiences just didn鈥檛 want to look at the work.聽
A: How do you manage this balance between confronting audiences with the realities of how we鈥檙e treating nature, without them looking away?聽
窜狈:听Sometimes you do this by editing out images that were really great. I couldn鈥檛 put everything in, but that鈥檚 true of any good project. It becomes good in the editing. It鈥檚 only when you start taking out the truly great images, because there isn鈥檛 space, that you can reach a new level. In the curation, you have to ask: what story am I trying to tell? It can鈥檛 be everything to everyone. For me, it was important to focus on the illusory aspect, the psychological part of creating a world in order to hide from what we鈥檙e doing. So, in a way, if it was an image of such abject cruelty, it ceased to be an illusion and it was apparent what was happening. That鈥檚 a different project. At times, the editing for a project like this can be really challenging, as you鈥檙e covering a lot of ground, but it鈥檚 about constantly trying to find a balance. You鈥檙e finding a pace and a poetry, without repetition and with surprises. I like having juxtapositions, so you鈥檙e not quite sure what you鈥檙e looking at. The other thing about photography is that often it can feel like you鈥檙e being manipulated. I think it makes you want to shut it down. In dancing along the edges of huge topics, people are attracted to look at the works, but then find something unsettling or thought provoking. It leaves a sort of echo.聽
A: Your work sets out where humanity has gone wrong in our relationship with nature. How do we begin to set this right?聽
窜狈:听There are certain things that are just no brainers when you鈥檙e thinking about the environment, climate change or animal welfare. For instance, we can vote for better leaders. I鈥檓 thinking particularly of America, we have a vote, so we need to use it carefully. There鈥檚 a need for better education and storytelling, so that鈥檚 something that comes back to storytelling. We can demand change with our money and make better consumer choices. We can boycott brands that we鈥檙e starting to understand are unhelpful or harmful. You can, if you have the money, invest ethically. We can live better and reduce our impact 鈥 cut down on plastic use, have wild gardens, reduce meat consumption. I鈥檓 not a fan of putting blame on individual people, because it doesn鈥檛 help to be crippled with guilt. What we need to do is use this energy to demand change from industries and leaders. In the essay at the back of the book, it says: 鈥淥ur future as a species depends on urgent new evaluations of humanity鈥檚 relationship with the natural world.聽We have divorced ourselves from nature, yet we crave a connection with the very thing that we have turned our back on.聽Surrounding ourselves with simulated recreations of nature paradoxically creates unwitting monuments to the very things that we have lost.鈥 I鈥檓 trying to say that it will take a paradigm shift in our priorities and empathies, but it鈥檚 on an industrial and political level that change neds to happen. We already know what needs to be done, we just need to find the leaders who will do it.聽
A: What鈥檚 next for you? Anything we can look forward to?聽
窜狈:听I鈥檓 working something more positive, in a way, but continuing my focus on the environmental. It鈥檚 to do with how nature can be given legal rights. It鈥檚 a fascinating subject.聽
Zed Nelson: The Anthropocene Illusion is at Somerset House, London until 4 May:
Words: Emma Jacob &
Image Credits:
All images: 漏 Zed Nelson, The Anthropocene Illusion 2025.
