Immersed in Nature

In February 2023, a violent storm triggered severe flooding and landslides on the Brazilian Atlantic coast of the state of São Paulo. Huge masses of mud slid down the steep slopes, sweeping away trees and boulders and unfortunately burying 65 people, including 42 children. Thousands of people were left homeless. I happened to be in the disaster area for several weeks a few days after the terrible event. It wouldn't stop raining, helicopters were circling over the region, trucks were driving away the mud day and night, and military and many relief workers were on duty. Everywhere there was this red-brown mud, in which I also got stuck once, and it made clear how vulnerable we humans are to the forces of nature. We have to limit man-made climate change as much as possible by all means and treat nature and its beauty with much more respect. This idea of connectedness, of becoming one with nature, guided me and when the situation had calmed down a bit, I started to implement an artistic idea. I photographed affected residents, who are all dressed in materials that were taken from nature directly on site. Man is part of nature and nature is very abundant here, since the Atlantic rainforest is one of the places with the greatest biodiversity. It was important for me to involve the Brazilians on site. The "models" are all from Boiçucanga, where I spent 6 weeks, and the Brazilian artist Priscila Gurski supported me in designing the outfits.