The Lewis Glacier, Mt. Kenya, 2004 (C) Possibly 2014 - 2015

Simon Norfolk made this photograph, The Lewis Glacier, Mt. Kenya, in 2004. I'm so intrigued by the paradox of fire and ice. You see the glacier in the background, but your eye is really drawn to the flames licking the rocks in the foreground. I wonder, did Norfolk set up a fire in front of the glacier? Or is it a composite image? Either way, he is playing with our ideas of temperature, distance, and time. A painter might layer colors to achieve this effect. Here, Norfolk seems to layer realities. I start to imagine the physicality of being there, the crunch of ice, the heat of the fire, the thinness of the air. Painters throughout history have explored these contrasts – think of Turner's fiery sunsets over icy seas. Norfolk’s work reminds us that artists are always responding to the world around them and to each other. There are no fixed answers, only ongoing conversations.