Charles Lindsay

The SETI Institute’s first Artist in Residence is Charles Lindsay. Lindsay has had a diverse career, working first as an exploration geologist in the arctic, and then as a photojournalist in the jungles of southeast Asia. His environmental work has appeared in numerous international magazines and has been profiled on NPR, CNN and NHK Japan. He has published seven books of photographs.

In the last decade Lindsay has transformed his work into an evolving installation project called CARBON, which includes very large photographs, videos, focused sound and sculptures created from salvaged scientific devices and space equipment. At the heart of CARBON is a camera-less photographic process of his own invention, for which he received a 2010 Guggenheim Fellowship. These installations offer an immersive alternate world, where the viewer is engaged to consider fundamental questions about our place in the universe.

“CARBON combines my interest in the aesthetics of space exploration, scientific imaging and the evolution of symbols.”