Matthew Brown

The Last of Us

The roof of an abandoned school overlooking Athens

I travelled to Greece in June 2017, and although the countryside is still beautiful, I found the decay in Athens shocking. Every third store is vacant, no square inch has escaped the spray can and mother nature has started to take back dilapidated buildings at an alarming rate. The Athens I saw looked like a set from the dystopian zombie shooter game “The Last of Us”. 

Then, in January 2018, I visited the tiny town of Riverlands, about an hour outside of Cape Town. The Western Cape was suffering the worst drought in decades and extreme water restrictions were in place. A large bush fire had broken out that morning and I started taking some photos - not really to document the fire, but more abstract images of the chaos. 

In my mind the two sets of photos relate to each other. They show an absence of man with nature left to take over - by creeping roots or roaring flames. 



The world may be ending, but you may have to fill out some forms

The world may be ending, but you still need a pair of dry socks

The world may be ending, but you can’t just throw your cigarettes anywhere.

The world may be ending, but you still need directions to porn

The world may be ending, but you can still have a good view.

Their engines were still warm.

Burn my thoughts

A fire extinguisher waits patiently for the inevitable

Chaos (Riverlands)

Chaos (Riverlands)

Chaos (Riverlands)

Chaos (Riverlands)

Chaos (Riverlands)

Chaos (Riverlands)

Chaos (Riverlands)

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