What will the world atlas, that future generations study, look like? This question motivated photographers Edoardo Delille and Giulia Piermartiri to launch their project ‘Atlas of the New World’. Through their photos, taken across the globe, the artists show how landscapes affected by climate change will deteriorate by the end of the century, impacting local communities.
“Photography typically captures the present, a moment frozen in time,” Delille explained when responding to how the artists’ work represents climate change. Looking for a powerful way to blend scenarios for the future with the daily lives of people, Giulia and Edorardo decided to project speculative images of the destructive impacts of climate change onto photos of families living in vulnerable places around the world. They used a unique creative technique to overlay snapshots of local communities in areas such as Mozambique, California, Russia, the Maldives and Mont Blanc with images of natural disasters. The result is a series of dreamlike photographs that bring the impact of climate change into focus in a new way.
Delille also described the project’s dual nature: “The first layer is an aesthetical picture, a well-composed, colourful image. So, people are really attracted (to the image), especially at school.” He explained that the second layer is the meaning behind the images, adding, “When people realise that they are seeing the future, they do not want these projections to become reality.”
The project ‘Atlas of the New World’ was presented to the EUI community at an interactive event hosted by Professor Sergio Puig, Joint Chair in International Economic Law at the Department of Law and the Robert Schuman Centre and coordinator of the Environmental Challenges and Climate Change Governance cluster. For him, the provocative storytelling technique of this initiative is key to engaging people in the conversation on climate change. He concluded that, “What the artists have achieved is telling a sad story of what could be the future if we don’t change. We felt this is an important element of our work at the EUI — telling stories in a good way. Edoardo and Giulia have done this excellently.”
Watch the full interview with Professor Sergio Puig and Edoardo Delille to learn more about this innovative project.