Cool Hunting

"Topologies" is Portuguese photographer Edgar Martins' first book with significant distribution taking selections from each of his major series of large-format photographs. The images, which abstain from any digital manipulation, were taken in Portugal and Iceland and focus on what may be the world's least photographic scenes: barren landscapes with no conventional subjects. Instead, he opts for cold, isolated locations. But despite the lack of people or things (the cover image is the single appearance of a human), there's an acutely unsettling notion underlying the shots that is both arresting and intrinsically beautiful. Click the images for more detail.

His shots of the Icelandic wilderness take a sterilized, detached view of monochromatic natural landscapes. It's almost like a modern day Ansel Adams who traded the bucolic grandeur of national parks for the alienation of the frozen tundra. His series on forest fires in Portugal results from an extensive period of training with the National Fire Protection Unit and reflect an unparalleled intimacy with natural disaster. The shots capture fire in a remarkably fluid state and subtly comments on current events through allusions to drought and global climate change. Martins also turns his attention to the scars and byproducts of modern society through collections of photographs taken of airport runways and the roadside barriers major highways.

"Topologies" includes 75 full-color images, an interview with the artist and an essay by John Beardsley of the Harvard School of Design. Topologies will be available for $35 in May. You can buy it through Aperture or pre-order on Amazon.