ULTIMA THULE – surface and horizon thresholds

Stephen Vaughan's work explores the connections between geology, archaeology, history, and memory. In Ultima Thule, the persistent human urge to explore unknown territory is considered within the context of complex geological processes, over vast periods of time, and the formation of the Earth itself. Vaughan's photographs are richly detailed, monumental representations of the landscape surface – yet they also transpose this factual evidence into broader, metaphorical themes. The potential for discovery or transformation from beneath the surface or beyond the threshold is a central theme in the making of his photographs.

Ultima Thule was initially inspired by the exploratory voyage of Pytheas, in 325 BC, from the Greek colonies of the Mediterranean to the far north-Atlantic – beyond the edges of the known world. Made in Iceland (thought to be the location of Pytheas' Thule), Vaughan's photographs traverse territory that is analogous to the contemporary frontiers of inter-planetary exploration – showing Earthly landscapes that are the nearest equivalent to the surfaces of the Moon and Mars. The photographs in Ultima Thule – of volcanic fissures, shifting tectonic plates, vast glaciers and steaming, sulphurous pools – connect Pytheas' ancient voyage of discovery to contemporary inter-planetary exploration.

Opened Landscape: Lindow, Tollund, Grauballe, Vaughan's previous series, was a response to the remarkable archaeological discoveries made at particular bogland sites – where the landscape itself was a system of memory; and where preserved bodies or artefacts connected us with ancient historical and human events. The scrutiny of exposed, ancient surfaces linked the contemporary landscape directly to the Iron Age and Neolithic past.

In contrast, Ultima Thule is a study of some of the rawest and youngest surfaces on Earth. Vaughan's photographs retreat further back in time to the imagined beginnings of landscape and the formation of the Earth itself, void of any human presence or history. Recent natural catastrophes and predictions of global warming have heightened our awareness and fear of the Earth's volatility and fragility. Vaughan's images draw directly upon these anxieties, echoing concerns about the end of nature that have arisen throughout human history.