©Mishka Henner, Black Diamond Feeders, 2012

Each year during Earth Week I curate a collection of photographic projects from artists who are working to make the often-invisible nature of the global climate and the ecological crisis more visible using conceptual, lens-based art techniques. The arts – and the visual arts in particular – have a unique capacity to confront audiences with uncomfortable truths, provoke meaningful discussion, foster empathy, and inspire individuals to take action on today’s most pressing issues.

Today, we’re looking at Mishka Henner’s project, Feedlots, 2012-13.

These bodies of work are linked by this thematic lens: making the often-invisible nature of the global climate and the ecological crisis more visible using conceptual, lens-based art techniques.

©Mishka Henner, Centerfire Feedyard, Ulysses, Kansas, 2012

Feedlots, 2012-13

I first came across these feedlots on Google Earth and had no idea what I was seeing. The mass and density of the black and white dots seemed almost microbial. To understand what they were I had to learn about the meat industry and its methods for maximizing yield in the minimum amount of time for the highest profit.

It used to take five years for a cow to reach its mature weight, ready for slaughter and processing. Today, since the structures and processes of feed yards have been perfected, that has been reduced to less than 18 months. Such speed requires growth hormones and antibiotics in cows’ diets, and efficient feedlot architecture. Farmers can turn to reports to help calculate the maximum number of cattle that can fit in each pen, the minimum size of run-off channels that carry away thousands of tons of urine and manure, and the composition of chemicals needed to break down the waste as it collects in lagoons and drains into the soil. Different chemical mixes explain the varying toxic hues of each lagoon.

©Mishka Henner, Conorado Feeders, Dalhart, Texas (Detail), 2012

These pictures were made by stitching together hundreds of high-resolution screen shots from publicly accessible satellite imaging software. The results are prints of great clarity and detail that capture the effects of feedlots on the land.

The meat industry is a subject loaded with a moral and ethical charge. But when I think of these pictures, I don’t just see gigantic farms, I see an attitude toward life and death that exists throughout contemporary culture. These images reflect a blueprint and a horror that lie at the heart of the way we live.

©Mishka Henner, Coronado Feeders, Dalhart, Texas, (Detail), 2012

©Mishka Henner, Coronado Feeders, Dalhart, Texas, 2012

©Mishka Henner, Friona Feedyard, Parmer County, Texas (Detail), 2012 (

©Mishka Henner, Friona Feedyard, Parmer County, Texas (Detail), 2012

©Mishka Henner, Friona Feedyard, Parmer County, Texas (Detail), 2012

©Mishka Henner, Friona Feedyard, Parmer County, Texas, 2012

©Mishka Henner, Randall County Feedyard, Amarillo, Texas (Detail), 2012

©Mishka Henner, Randall County Feedyard, Amarillo, Texas, 2012

©Mishka Henner, Tascosa Feedyard, Bushland, Texas (Detail), 2013

©Mishka Henner, Tascosa Feedyard, Bushland, Texas , 2013

©Mishka Henner, Wrangler Feedyard, Tulia, Texas (Detail), 2012

©Mishka Henner, Wrangler Feedyard, Tulia, Texas (Detail), 2012

©Mishka Henner, Wrangler Feedyard, Tulia, Texas (Detail), 2012

Mishka Henner, Wrangler Feedyard, Tulia, Texas 2012

Mishka Henner is an artist whose work examines how systems of vision shape what we know and believe about the world.

Since 2010, he’s used satellites, surveillance feeds, and artificial intelligence as his tools, revealing infrastructures and image networks that operate beyond the human gaze. From the censored polygons of Dutch Landscapes (2011) and the industrial abstractions of Feedlots (2012–13) to the AI-generated visions of The Fertile Image (2020) and Search History (2024), his works chart a persistent fascination with how images produce power and meaning.

His ongoing projects, including The Last Judgement = a podcast resurrecting deceased artists and thinkers to critique the living – extend this investigation into voice, authorship, and the artifice of authority.

His work has been exhibited internationally at institutions including the MoMA, the Met, Centre Pompidou, Victoria & Albert Museum, Pinakothek der Moderne, and the Hasselblad Foundation. His works are held in public collections such as the Centre Pompidou, the National Gallery of Art, and the Met.

Henner was awarded the International Center of Photography’s Infinity Award for Art in 2013 and shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize (2013) and the Prix Pictet (2014).

Instagram: @mishkahenner