Photo Exhibition Exposes London Air Pollution

A photo exhibition turns pollution into art to raise awareness about London's persistent air-quality problem Ben STANSALL AFP/File
A photo exhibition turns pollution into art to raise awareness about London's persistent air-quality problem Ben STANSALL AFP/File
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Photo Exhibition Exposes London Air Pollution

A photo exhibition turns pollution into art to raise awareness about London's persistent air-quality problem Ben STANSALL AFP/File
A photo exhibition turns pollution into art to raise awareness about London's persistent air-quality problem Ben STANSALL AFP/File

An unconventional photography exhibition in London has turned toxic pollution into art to raise awareness about the British capital's persistent air-quality problems.

Visual artists and scientists have teamed up for the exhibition, entitled What On Earth, which explores the climate crisis through 26 artworks, running until July 24.

Exhibits include ethereal images on delicate dark blue paper with splashes of white that evoke pristine oceans but actually show the contamination of London's air.

They were produced using air samples provided by scientists at Imperial College London.

The samples were then captured and printed using cyanotype, a traditional method of producing images from light that enables sunlight to reveal toxic particles.

The Crown Estate, which manages property owned by Queen Elizabeth II, gave The Koppel Project, the arts charity behind the show, a disused retail unit rent-free for a year in sought-after central London.

The deal was in exchange for establishing an artistic community and getting a discussion under way, said curator Ellen Taylor.

"The goal was to address social and political issues we see in the news to create a conversation," she said.

"I'm hoping this show can demonstrate how nature can be the subject of photography, using air pollution and sound to document how our environment is changing."

Pollution levels plummeted across the world last year as people stayed at home during coronavirus lockdowns but have picked up as restrictions ease and more people avoid public transport.

Air pollution can create and exacerbate cardiovascular diseases and asthma and has been linked with cognitive diseases like dementia.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates it is responsible for seven million premature deaths annually worldwide.

A June report found that more than 25 percent of UK schools were located in areas above the WHO's recommended air pollution levels.

- 'Pea soup' -
One of the showcased artists Alice Cazenave used a glass plate to collect pollution in central London for weeks.

The city has a long history of poor air quality, with its thick "pea soup" smog leading to major clean air legislation in the 1950s.

It introduced a congestion charge in 2003, billing motorists entering the city centre £15 ($21, 18 euros) every day.

The owners of vehicles exceeding emissions thresholds will pay additional fees of up to £100 in an expanded low-emission zone from October, as Sadiq Khan seeks to become the city's "greenest mayor".

Air pollution caused around 1,000 annual hospital admissions for asthma and serious lung conditions in London between 2014 and 2016, according to a 2019 report.

In December, a coroner ruled that air pollution made a "material contribution" to the death of a nine-year-old London girl in 2013 -- the first time in Britain that air pollution was officially listed as a cause of death.

It is against this backdrop that the exhibition wants to put the issue at the forefront of people's minds and encourage action.

"The processes and subject matter is a great way to show the ever-changing environment we see today," added Taylor.



Suspect in Kardashian Jewel Heist Case Plans to Take Responsibility for his Role at Paris Trial

Yunice Abbas reads the book "I Sequestered Kim Kardashian" during an interview with the Associated Press, Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Yunice Abbas reads the book "I Sequestered Kim Kardashian" during an interview with the Associated Press, Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
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Suspect in Kardashian Jewel Heist Case Plans to Take Responsibility for his Role at Paris Trial

Yunice Abbas reads the book "I Sequestered Kim Kardashian" during an interview with the Associated Press, Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Yunice Abbas reads the book "I Sequestered Kim Kardashian" during an interview with the Associated Press, Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

One of the suspects in the armed robbery of Kim Kardashian said he plans to take responsibility for his role in the 2016 high-profile heist and will apologize in court as the trial begins Monday in Paris.
Yunice Abbas, 71, who has publicly acknowledged his participation in the heist, is among 10 suspects facing charges including armed robbery and kidnapping.
“I will apologize,” Abbas told The Associated Press. “I mean it sincerely.”
Kardashian, 44, is expected to testify in person at the trial scheduled to run through May 23. In interviews and on her family’s reality TV show, she has described being terrified as robbers pointed a gun at her to steal millions of dollars worth of jewelry in an apartment where she was staying for Paris Fashion Week. She said she thought she was going to be raped and killed.
Abbas said he acted as a lookout at the reception area on the ground floor, ensuring the escape route was clear. He said he was unarmed and did not personally threaten Kardashian, but acknowledged he shared responsibility for the crime.
He was arrested in January 2017 and he spent 21 months in prison before being released under judicial supervision. In 2021, he co-authored a French-language book titled “I Sequestered Kim Kardashian.”
In her account to investigators, Kardashian described two men forcing their way into her bedroom and pointing a gun towards her, asking for her ring. She said she was tied up with plastic cables and tape while the intruders were looking for jewels, including her engagement ring worth millions of dollars.
In a 2020 appearance on David Letterman’s Netflix show, she tearfully recalled thinking: “This is the time I’m going to get raped. I’m like, ‘What is happening? Are we gonna die? Just tell them I have children. I have babies, I have a husband, I have a family’.”
She told investigators the men brought her in the bathroom before they ran off and she managed to free herself.
The residency’s concierge, held at gunpoint and forced to lead the robbers to her apartment, also suffered psychological impact.
Investigators found Abbas' DNA on plastic ties used to tie the hands of the concierge.
Asked about the trauma Kardashian suffered, Abbas said : “It’s true, I didn’t think about it. I recognize that because I did not brutalize her myself... I was not blaming myself regarding this aspect, and yet I’m responsible for it too.”
According to Abbas, minutes after the raid started, his accomplices came down from Kardashian's apartment and gave him a bag of jewelry.
As he was fleeing the scene on a bicycle, he saw a police car, but officers were not yet aware of the robbery. Abbas said as he rode the bicycle the bag containing the jewelry became caught in the front wheel and he fell to the ground, spilling the contents of the bag. “I picked the jewels up and left,” he said.
The following morning, a passerby found a diamond-encrusted cross in the street and handed it to police. That was the only jewel from the robbery that was ever recovered.
French justice estimated stolen items to be worth $6 million in total.
Abbas said he didn’t know Kardashian’s identity at the time of the robbery.
“I was told about a famous person, a rapper’s wife. That’s all the information I had,” he said. “Until the next morning, when I heard on TV about the influencer. That’s when I understood who she was.”
He said he will detail his role during the trial, which will be conducted with a jury, a procedure in France reserved for the most serious crimes – yet he would not denounce his accomplices.
“I’m only an outsider. I’m not the one who masterminded the case. I take my share of responsibility,” he said.
Most of the suspects have denied involvement, except for Abbas and another man whose DNA was also found at the scene.
FBI involvement Thierry Niemen, the journalist who co-authored Abbas' book, said Abbas approached him because he wanted to “tell his own truth” amid what he saw as inaccurate or sensationalized accounts.
The book also revealed investigative details, including how the FBI helped French police identify Abbas’ DNA despite him wearing gloves.
“This is the case of all superlatives,” Niemen said. “The FBI overseeing an investigation on French territory — that’s already a superlative.” Kardashian was then the top influencer in the world and the case was the most popular topic on the social media in 2016, Niemen stressed.
Abbas’ earnings from the book have been frozen pending the outcome of the trial.
Kardashian's lawyer, Michael Rhodes, has said the reality TV star and entrepreneur wants the trial "to proceed in an orderly fashion in accordance with French law and with respect for all parties to the case."