"Displaced": Portraits of Dignity in the Face of Climate Displacement
- Fundación Camino Vital
- Jan 29
- 2 min read
Beyond the numbers, there are faces. Photographers Mathias Braschler and Monika Fischer capture human dignity in the face of climate displacement. Through their lens, migration driven by climate change ceases to be a statistic and becomes the face of a mother, the hands of a fisherman, the resilience in a child’s eyes. “Migration to move on is also a way of adapting to climate change. It has always been a means of adapting to changing environments. But because climate change is accelerating so fast at the moment, it’s also an overwhelmingly big problem” (Monika Fischer, The World).
Each photograph is a story; each gaze, a call to action. Walter Krahe lives in Insul, in the Ahr River valley, west of Bonn, Germany. In 2021, unusually intense rainfall caused the Ahr River and its tributaries to overflow, flooding the valley. “We are afraid of change, but the changes that will come, if we do nothing, will be worse, totally uncontrollable”.
The effects of climate change include the loss of homes, traditions, roots, memories, and dreams. They reach us. It happens. Far away and close by. Brazil, Bangladesh, Germany, Iraq, the Philippines, the United States, Kenya, Guatemala… through their lens. But also Colombia, Spain, Panama, Chile.
Today it's them, tomorrow it will be us.
Moving by choice is different from moving because you are forced to. Some people flee violence. Others are pushed out by environmental changes driven by human activity. What do these situations have in common? People. But there is a key difference: people displaced by climate change “are not legally recognized as refugees under international law” (El País).
It is a global crisis.
We recommend watching the videos detailing some of the stories.
We have chosen two of them:
Bruno Lötscher, resident of Brienz, Swizerland: https://braschlerfischer.com/motion/#foobox-1/2/1131423499
Jimmy Jr. Solano, Ronalyn Balindan, Precious Ghia and Prince Jesus in Santa Barbara, Nabua Camarines Sur, Bicol, Filipinas: https://braschlerfischer.com/motion/#foobox-1/3/1131400775
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