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Eustasy
Brazil
by Felipe Fittipaldi
Published February 2025
Atafona, a small town located in the delta of the Paraíba do Sul River, is caught in the grip of environmental change. Over the past few decades, the sea has been gradually submerging the town, forcing hundreds of people to abandon their homes. Its dunes now cover about 500 buildings, including public spaces, residential blocks, a hotel, a gas station, and a church. A combination of factors, including rising sea levels and disastrous human interventions along the river, has made Atafona one of the most significant cases of coastal erosion in Brazil and produced hundreds of environmental immigrants.
Eustasy (2014-2024) is the outcome of a long-term visual exploration of the complex relationship between a community and its environment, characterized by dependency, melancholy, and individuals confronting the relentless degradation of their physical world.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported that sea levels are rising faster than ever, with the rate more than doubling in the past 10 years. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), over 410 million people could be at risk from rising sea levels by 2100 as a result of the climate crisis.
Felipe Fittipaldi
Felipe Fittipaldi is a Brazilian photographer based in Rio de Janeiro and Vancouver Island. Bachelor of Journalism and post-graduate in Communication and Image, he is constantly collaborating with international newspapers, magazines, and NGO's, such as National Geographic, New York Times Magazine, United Nations, The Guardian, The Nature Conservancy, among others. Felipe was awarded and selected in the HSBC Pour la Photographie, ISEM Prize, World Report Award, Wellcome Prize, Lens Culture Emerging Talents, POY Latam, Sony Photography Award, and National Geographic Photo Contest. In 2018, he was selected by the World Press Photo Foundation for the 6x6 Global Talent Program. In 2020, he became a National Geographic Explorer Grantee and his work became part of The National Library of France (BnF) Collection. In 2023, he received the World Report Award and ISEM Grand Prix.
