From Volcanoes and Glaciers to Outer Space: An Adventurer Photographs the Metaphors of Our Present World
Author/ Naiqing Li
Originially published on Southern People Weekly 2026, No.11 (Issue No. 869)
"We are not observing changes; we are living inside the change."
Artist, adventurer, and aspiring astronaut Michael Najjar prefers to carry his photographic equipment and venture deep into Earth’s extreme environments.
From January to May 2026, Najjar’s solo exhibition Morphing Equilibrium was on view at the Fotografiska in Shanghai. The core video works, Liquid Landscapes and Glacial Heterotopia, were the result of his fieldwork deep inside Icelandic volcanoes and the polar regions of the Arctic and Antarctica.
Stepping into the immersive exhibition hall, the flowing lava and cracking ice on the giant screens are, in Najjar’s view, not only rare natural wonders but also visual metaphors for understanding the "dynamic disequilibrium" of today’s world. Borrowing the ecological term "dynamic equilibrium" (referring to a relatively stable state maintained by a system amid change), Najjar asks: in the 21st century, marked by climate change, technological acceleration, and geopolitical shifts, how will humanity face an increasingly "liquefied" world order?
To shoot, Najjar often places himself in extreme environments, continuously pushing his physical and mental limits under perilous natural or technical conditions. For decades, he has traveled and explored the globe, climbing 7,000-meter peaks, scaling skyscrapers, trekking across active volcanoes, traversing glaciers, entering ice caves, and crossing deserts... He once photographed a rocket launch up close at Elon Musk's Starbase, which sparked his desire to go into space — to become the first artist in space, he undergoes intensive cosmonaut physical training in Russia every year.
The interplay between photographic creation and bodily experience runs throughout Najjar's artistic practice. Through continuous global walking and interdisciplinary collaboration, he integrates his thoughts on future cities, space exploration, biotechnology, and other issues into an evolving visual narrative. His images are reconstructed using cutting-edge shooting and digital technologies, creating a "post-natural" landscape that both reveals the Earth's astonishing vitality and confronts its fragility, thereby inviting viewers to examine the present world and humanity's future amid profound transformation.
On the eve of the Morphing Equilibrium opening, Najjar accepted an interview with Southern People Weekly.
"Stable Structures Are Falling Apart"
Southern People Weekly (SPW): Your exhibition Morphing Equilibrium consists of two parts, volcanoes and glaciers. How do you "balance" the relationship between them?
Najjar: The exhibition's theme is about "metamorphosis." Look at the era we live in today — those familiar, stable structures are falling apart. Everything is transforming, everything is being reconfigured. The last time we experienced something like this was about 100 years ago, between the pre-World War I period and World War II. After WWII, the world had new concepts. Looking at geopolitics, culture, ecology — all we see are crises. Not one after another, but many crisis situations simultaneously, and they are constantly auto-generating. Due to the rise of AI, we now face a technological revolution of super-scale proportions, deeply affecting the economy, culture, technology, and every field. We don't know what will happen when this technological revolution ends. Our once stable environment is entering a certain fluid state. This exhibition is a metaphor for this disruption: how to achieve balance during the reconstruction within a fluid state.
I chose two opposing worlds. One is the extremely hot volcano, a force hidden deep within the Earth that erupts to the surface. I compare it to the transformation of artificial intelligence. AI has been hidden beneath the surface for a long time; like a sudden volcanic eruption, it is destroying certain landscapes while simultaneously creating new ones.
Opposite to that is the world of the extremely cold Arctic glaciers. Glaciers are archives of time; they carry thousands of years of frozen history. Now, due to global warming, climate change is causing them to rapidly melt. We used to call glaciers the "Eyes of Eternity," as something that would stand there forever. Now, "eternity" is disappearing... I photograph volcanoes and glaciers as metaphors for the changes happening in our world.
SPW: You have visited many glacial regions, including Greenland. What was your deepest impression from that trip?
Najjar: People are talking about Greenland now on a political level. I went there in the summer of 2024 with a German scientific research team for an interesting project. Greenland has the largest ice sheet array on Earth outside of Antarctica: 17 million square kilometers and 3,000 meters deep. The ice sheet is usually white; it reflects sunlight and maintains the Arctic's temperature. Now, scientists have realized that more and more algae are appearing there. In the summer, to protect themselves from the sun, they produce pigments, changing the ice sheet from white to grey. This means it goes from reflecting sunlight to absorbing sunlight, thereby accelerating glacial melt. This is a remarkable new discovery that, so far, no climate model has deeply studied. I joined this exploration. Scientists collected the algae there. I photographed the glacier surface from a helicopter and also used a microscope to focus on the collected samples, creating specific video works. This case represents my working method. This type of work could never be done by artificial intelligence. It's based on my real-life experience, my exchanges with scientists, learning from them on site, and transforming major scientific discoveries into artistic expression.
SPW: As an adventurer, please share your experience climbing active volcanoes to shoot. What was the most dangerous time like?
Najjar: (Laughs) When filming volcanoes, you would never allow yourself to fly with a helicopter. If you have any technical issue, the only way to land would be to fall into the lava — that would be terrible! I use drones to film volcanoes. It was during the COVID-19 pandemic, under global lockdown, that I took a plane alone to Iceland. When the volcano erupted, I estimated I was the only tourist there. I completed the entire shooting process by myself. I carried my backpack and camera gear, climbing the mountain to find the location of the eruption. It was an extreme experience. I was very close to the crater. The danger wasn’t just being hit by molten lava particles; the most dangerous thing was that I couldn't find a way back. While climbing, I was looking for different vantage points. When I went back, my original path had been cut off by lava — it had already started flowing... I had to find another way out. You can imagine it was dangerous and tricky. Fortunately, I escaped. For me, this was the most dangerous experience, but the adventure was worth it; otherwise, you wouldn't have those spectacular images you see now.
Extreme Training of an Aspiring Astronaut
SPW: In addition to being an artist, you are also an aspiring astronaut. What physical and psychological qualities are needed?
Najjar: Astronaut training pushes the human body to its limits. Our bodies were not made for the space environment. You have to deal with many challenges, the hardest of which is gravity. When you float in zero gravity, you can barely move, and you suddenly lose your sense of direction. Also, the technical equipment is a big challenge. The first time I put on a spacesuit, I realized how complex it is; it's a "spaceship" in itself. When I did a spacewalk training in water, I spent two hours at a depth of 12 meters wearing that locked-in spacesuit. At that moment, I panicked and nearly broke down. It takes at least 20 minutes to take off that suit. Just the thought that oxygen might run out is enough to send you into a panic. So you must focus your mind, excluding all negative thoughts. What helps me every time is my photographic mission — have I captured the ideal image? Focusing on creation helps me overcome fear and deal with all kinds of complex situations.
SPW: You have carried out intensive and sustained astronaut training programs at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia, the German Aerospace Center, and the National Aerospace Training and Research Center in the US. What are the similarities and differences among these three countries' programs?
Najjar: The training in Russia was the most interesting — extremely real and the most intensive. I did some additional training in the US and Germany, but the main training was in Russia. As an artist, it was very difficult to apply for training at these institutions. The initial answers were all negative. The main issue in the US was insurance. Germany didn't have a training program as comprehensive as Russia's. Russia was the best choice at the time; they were willing to open their doors to an artist. Even so, the preparation — from communication, application, finding a special agent, to finally making contact — took me a whole year. I eventually reached the day I obtained all the training permissions.
That was seven years ago. I now do a lot of physical training, not only to prepare for my space trip but because all the expeditions I currently undertake are extreme physical challenges — carrying camera gear on a glacier for three or four weeks, or climbing volcanoes, crossing deserts...
SPW: You have filmed rocket launches at Musk's base. Could you share that experience?
Najjar: I first visited the base in 2019 and also witnessed the first launch of Starship. When I saw photos of the spacecraft, I already knew it was gigantic, but when I got there, it was like being on the set of a sci-fi film. It looked too surreal, because surrounding you were not one, but several giant spacecraft — it was crazy!
Assembled, it reached 120 meters, as tall as a 45-story building. When it took off, none of us knew if it would explode or fly. Everyone was incredibly excited. At that time, I had incredible access. Two days after the first flight failed and the launch pad was destroyed, I went to the site. There was a huge crater on the launch pad, rocks everywhere. It looked like a dystopian scene from the movie Mad Max. It was a very experimental phase, a completely new technology. The rocket system was being constantly tested. Being able to join the shoot at this early stage was very important to me.
I am very interested in new things in the space field. As far as I know, China is also investing a lot in its space program and now has very successful rockets and launch systems.
SPW: What do you think of Musk and his Mars plan?
Najjar: Musk is an outstanding engineer. He has disrupted the aerospace industry with his technology, rockets, and spacecraft. He invented reusable rockets, drastically reducing costs and changing the way we access space. Musk's ultimate goal is to bring humans to Mars, and he might succeed. The question is: this is a huge step for humanity becoming a two-planet species. Should we allow one person or one company to achieve this? What kind of society will we establish on Mars? What kind of civilization would that be? Capitalism, socialism, communism? Who leads it? What is its relationship with Earth? Will the first person born on Mars get a passport to Earth, or only a Martian passport? There will be many questions. I don't think this can be left to one person or one company; it's a problem for all of humanity and should be discussed in a broader context.
"In 100 Years, Maybe Iceland Will Dominate the Rest of the World"
SPW: You have called your image production "hybrid photography." How do you define it? How do you define the boundary between the virtual and the real?
Najjar: I have always been exploring. I want to create images that oscillate between reality and virtuality. I want people to question the authenticity of these images, to feel a certain unease about what they see — on one hand, familiar; on the other hand, something seems to transcend the real, to be more real than reality. This also makes viewers question their own perception: what am I looking at?
SPW: In this era deeply impacted by AI, how do you view the impact of AI on photography?
Najjar: Now because of AI, some things look unreal, look so spectacular or strange, so different from what the normal eye sees. This implies a shortcut that eliminates personal, real-world experience. I think it fundamentally changes the way we perceive the world through images. Therefore, for me, it's now more important than ever to convey works based on personal and physical experience.
When most of our information and experience comes from this little machine (points to smartphone), I don't think it's a good thing. The whole world is focused on this little screen, everything is instantly accessible, people like to chat online. Real-world experience is now becoming virtual instead. Everything is transforming into a parallel world. I think this is very negative. I try to inspire people to turn it off, to enter the real world, to take risks, to travel, to go into difficult and dangerous situations. Because if you never learn and practice, you will always be afraid. Step out of your virtual comfort zone, dive into the adventurous, sometimes even dangerous "inspiration" zone — it is precisely this that drives my artistic process.
SPW: Looking to the future, do you consider yourself optimistic or pessimistic?
Najjar: If you had asked me this question 10 or 15 years ago, I would definitely have said we are moving towards a beautiful future. Asking me today, I have to say, looking at everything happening now, I see total collapse... Currently, we face geopolitical pressures, several major powers are restructuring the world. This isn't new. 500 years ago, Spain and Portugal decided to split the world in two. Humanity always thirsts to expand new territories and extend its sphere of influence. But the real issue is climate change. What we are doing to the Earth now has a tremendous impact on us. By the end of this century, it is very likely the temperature will rise by 3 to 4 degrees. Then, sea levels will rise by 3 to 6 meters. We will lose the territories that many people on Earth depend on for survival. Hundreds of millions of people will have to migrate, leaving their countries. Where will they go, where will they live? The economy will be hugely affected. We will face staggering costs for security measures, migration, industrial restructuring, natural disasters... The damage will be irreparable for the next 100 years. Perhaps the world's superpowers will be completely different in 100 years — maybe Iceland will dominate the rest of the world (because it's high above sea level and cold). Many countries will disappear in one way or another. All of this is possible...
