The Carteret Islands in Papua New Guinea have progressively become uninhabitable: in 2005 it was estimated that they will be submerged by 2015.
The real plight of the people as environmental refugees may be at risk of being overshadowed by the discussions around the underlying reasons. Popular culture would have them as the first climate refugees, others would say that the islands are sinking and sea-level rises are not to blame for the fact that their land cannot be inhabited. Nevertheless, the islanders are environmental refugees and, with rising sea-levels, atoll’s such as theirs are threatened.
Whatever the underlying reason for their plight, from the creative spirit I learned something -or learned of the dialogue that takes shape around the topic- and it’s my hope that others can too. In that way we can collectively change our mindset to think of the implications of our own behaviour on our fellow citizens.
In the spirit of the ethos of World Citizen Artists, even if the printed di-bond aluminium version is under option for a friend of mine from the Seychelles . I am happy to dedicate it to the the organisation.
With my photographic concept Irrational Angle, which in ‘Earth too’ expresses itself through a kind of photographic impressionism, I invite the viewer to explore the immensity, fragility -and yet ultimate durability with or without us- of planet earth. They are asked to ponder on how we can protect our tiny part of the universe from over exploitation. The images act as a contrast of something beautiful with something devastating – the actual subject matter being somewhat recognisable, but ultimately unidentifiable.
The photos invite me in, so the are not preconceived in what they are intended to represent, with the attached image leading me down a path to the plight of the Carteret Islanders in Papua New Guinea (which I hadn’t heard about before taking the shot in 2011).
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