The Anthropocene Illusion,
Mile End Arts Pavilion,
15th October- 26th October, 2025
Spanning the last six years, Zed Nelson’s new work, The Anthropocene Illusion, explores how, while we destroy the natural world around us, humans have become masters of a stage-managed, artificial ‘experience’ of nature; a reassuring spectacle, an illusion. The work reveals not only a phenomenon of denial and self-delusion, but also a genuine craving for a connection to a world we have turned our back on.
Exhibition will be a A/V slideshow and a selection of prints.
BIO
Zed Nelson is a photographer known for long-term projects that explore contemporary society. He has published four monographs, Gun Nation, Love Me, A Portrait of Hackney, and his latest book, The Anthropocene Illusion.
Nelson has been recognised by numerous photography awards. His work has been published and exhibited worldwide, with solo shows in London, Stockholm and New York. Nelson’s work has also exhibited also at Tate Britain and the National Portrait Gallery, and included in the permanent collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Nelson also directed the critically-acclaimed documentary film about gentrification, The Street (2019), focusing on one street in East London over a four-year period.
