
situated nearly 2400m above the surrounding ocean, the telescopes of the European Northern Observatory on La Palma offer astronomers some of the best night-sky views on earth. every evening, their giant optics open and begin tracking the sky, imaging hazy nebulas and distant galaxies. located on the western-most of the Canary Islands, the facility is perched on the rim of an ancient volcanic caldera, high above clouds that drift towards the coast of Africa. silent and remote, it is truly a world apart
as part of their ongoing 24 Hours, Here series, we invited photographer John Hooper and filmmaker Mike Moloney to visit La Palma and capture this unique and otherwordly landscape. beyond the towering peaks, they explored wind-swept landscapes, misty forests, sun-bleached tarmac and quietly humming telescope control rooms – once leading-edge but now empty and abandoned
the combination of images, short films and found objects that make up ISLAND / UNIVERSE are a record of that trip – a glimpse at the surreal side of a facility that is advancing our knowledge of the cosmos
ISLAND/UNIVERSE opened at central London gallery So Far, The Future in July 2011 and is now touring. Mike’s film is below while a series of John’s photographs are available as limited edition C-type prints on Fujicolor Crystal Archive paper from our shop


















































