C-Print. 76,2 x 91,4 cm. Courtesy: Galerie Thomas Zander, Cologne and Altman Siegel Gallery, San Francisco.

Trevor Paglen’s photographic works critically examine the act of “seeing”, reflecting on access and transparency, what is classified and remains hidden from public view. His series Limit Telephotography employs high-powered telescopes with focal length ranges between 1,300 and 7,000 millimetres to photograph classified military bases and installations in the United States, hidden in deserts and buffered by dozens of miles of restricted land. While the images show little – what is seen may look banal – they suggest top-secret activities to which no civilian can gain access.