Tom Hegen
Salt Series
Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemuele Photo Rag
Layla Club Room
27.5" x 39.5"
Hegen
Tom Hegen is a photographer and designer based in Munich, Germany. He’s best known for his aerial photography projects that spotlight the impact of human presence on earth. He reflects on how mankind interferes with nature, showing us the traces we leave behind. Yet he does this in a beguiling manner, with beauty, symmetry and radiant colors.
In his Salt Series, Hegen photographs sea salt ponds in the French Mediterranean region, with curvilinear shapes and milky pastel color palettes. He writes, “The production of sea salt is one of the oldest forms of human intervention in natural spaces. Sea salt comes from natural evaporation of seawater out of artificial created ponds.The color of the water indicates the salinity of the ponds.Micro-organisms change their hues as the salinity of the pond increases. The colors can vary from lighter shades of green the vibrant red. Although the sea salt industry covers large areas around the world, the salt ponds and marshes are an important habitat for many species like birds, shellfishes or micro-organisms.”