Searching The Cold Spot,2017, 20.5x33cm, 128 pages, 550 copies

Images: Hanna Mattes

Text: David Colosi

Design: Harris Blondman   

In mythological accounts meteorites are described as magical bridges between heaven and earth. This reflects their remarkable property of bringing about both destruction and life. Depending on a meteorite’s size, its strike can be as powerful as an atomic bomb. It has the potential to destroy life and devastate the surrounding landscape. At the same time, we now know that meteorites were responsible for bringing water and amino acids - the main ingredients of human life - to the young planet Earth. The images in this book are analog photos of stones and craters taken over the course of three years. Hanna Mattes scrutinized the mineral collection of natural history museums in Harlem, Berlin, London and New York, selecting and recording specimens, and travelled to Upheaval Dome, Barringer Crater, Sunset Crater, and Ubehebe Crater to photograph these impact sites where meteorites struck long ago. She later transformed the negatives of meteorites using watercolors, creating images that merge painting and photography.