Solastalgia

Solastalgia is a term coined by Glenn Albrecht at the University of Newcastle, Australia, to describe “environmentally induced distress”. It is the existential angst experienced due to environmental changes seen close to home, such as after a natural disaster or from mining activities. I first heard this term “solastalgia” during my environmental studies, and have been pondering on it at a personal level ever since. There is no doubt that the activities of our species, certainly over the last 50 years or so, have pushed our planet to its limits in many of the life support systems that we rely on. Ocean acidification, climate change, habitat destruction and species decline, to name but a few, are all very real situations with ultimately diabolical consequences for human and non human species alike. I often fear for my children’s future and regret the things I have experienced that they will not. This body of work, mainly portraits of my children taken and edited over a number of years, attempts to explore this concept from my their point of view: in a weird way, as solastalgia by proxy. Maybe it is an attempt to assuage my guilt since my generation rape our home planet with little regard for my children, our children, leaving them with a much impoverished biosphere to the one we inherited from our parents. All photographs are my own and taken and edited using a smart phone or other mobile device only. This Project is ongoing.