Arko Datto Fine Print

Untitled, from the series Where Do We Go When the Final Wave Hits, 2017-2020

Archival inkjet print, image size: 11 × 13.5″, paper size: 13 × 15.5”

Edition of 50, signed and numbered by the artist

Frame not included

Arko Datto’s epic three-part series chronicles the lives of those living in the world’s largest delta, variously known as the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta. Climate change has rapidly put this immense region and its inhabitants in danger. Even as the artist summarizes the complexity and scale of the challenges confronting both, he knows his time with this landscape is fleeting. This image is from THE FINAL WAVE, the second chapter of Datto’s three-part series, Shunyo Raja (Kings of a Bereft Land).

Before stepping into the world of contemporary photography, Arko Datto was on course to receive a doctorate in theoretical sciences. Thematically, Datto explores forced migration, techno-fascism, surveillance in the digital panopticon, disappearing islands, nocturnal realms, and the psychosomatic stress of captive animals. His subjects vary but together they form threads of inquiry into our times’ existential dilemmas. By incorporating and developing diverse visual languages, narratives, and styles, Datto pushes both still and moving images’ boundaries. His long-term personal projects and commissions are published in TIME, National Geographic, The Atlantic, and The New Yorker, among others. He has received grants from the Prince Claus Fund, Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, and the IDFA Bertha Fund. Recent shows have been at SFO Museum, San Francisco; Fotomuseum Den Haag; Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin; and Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt. Pik-nik (Editions Le bec en l’air, 2018, FR), Mannequin (Edizioni L’artiere, 2018. IT), and Snakefire (Edizioni L’artiere, 2021, IT). He co-curated the Chennai Photo Biennale 2021 and is represented by East Wing Gallery, Doha.