HUMAN SHORES   

CHAPTER ONE / on an island
From the long-term project "and when you look closely"

Coasts mark boundaries between water and land, connecting two distinct ecosystems that have fostered a rich diversity of geological formations, plants, and animals. With the Anthropocene, cultural landscapes developed from fishing, tourism, shipping, promenades, and luxury villas. These areas are facing a tipping point and are subject to cultural and economic pressures such as overfishing, mass tourism, resource exploitation, and greed for profit.
The effects of human activity are felt most acutely in these fragile ecosystems. Plant species are disappearing, animal populations are becoming extinct, organisms and sediments are absorbing indigestible substances, storms are becoming more violent and frequent, and sea levels are rising.
By the end of this century, entire islands could be submerged, and half of their natural beaches could disappear. We still romanticize artificial dream destinations, even though they are already on the verge of ecological collapse.
What remains is the silent backdrop of a declining ecosystem, weakened by what once made it desirable –
a conquered paradise, now destroyed by the hand that claimed it..