Studio visit: Nadav Kander

The artist, photographer and director takes us inside his London studio — discussing death, beauty, and the works that mean most to him

‘If you boil down a picture to its abstract elements, you probably know more about me than anything else,’ says Nadav Kander , who recalls finding ‘affirmation’ in photography after a school life that was ‘never really’ what he wanted it to be.

Here, Kander discusses series including The Long River, which documents a three-year journey along China’s Yangtze, as well as Bodies. 6 Women. 1 Man. — his near-sculptural portraits of models painted in white marble dust.

‘There isn’t life without death, and there isn’t beauty without imperfection,’ reflects Kander, who adds ‘making pictures is exploring one’s own life’.