COVENTRY’S Cathedral ruins has been selected as the first venue to publicly host a photography exhibition aiming to shed new light on our relationship with space and the need to protect it.
‘Our Fragile Space: Protecting the Near-Space Environment’, which is at the ruins until Sunday, May 21, will feature 75 images designed to raise awareness of the vulnerability of space surrounding our planet.
Renowned photographer Max Alexander’s work aims to highlight the global problem posed by an ever-increasing amount of space debris.
It also aims to enable viewers to reflect on their understanding of the skies above from the threat of the November 1940 Blitz to a fragile and threatened environment.
The exhibitions stay at the cathedral ruins follows private viewings at Lloyd’s of London and Spaceport Cornwall.
Its spell in Coventry is part of the University of Warwick’s Resonate programme, which aims to help people engage with cutting-edge research through accessible events.
Alexander’s work features landscape, long-exposure, reportage photography, and interpretive portraits.
Don Pollacco who is a professor in the University of Warwick’s Department of Physics, said the exhibition is helping make sense of an important issue.
“We have become dependent on the satellites that orbit above our heads as they supply us with many services ranging from TV and communications to banking and even improving our farming efficiency.
“However, our use of space is jeopardised by our lack of an environmental consideration of the effects of an exponential increase in spacecraft and the debris that these and existing satellites leave behind when they finish their operational phase.
“We need to understand this space junk population and clean up the space around the Earth before the risks make routine space activity untenable.”
Visit www.resonatefestival.co.uk/events/our-fragile-space for more information.
