A Photographer's Eye Captures Climate Change

FloodZone, a 47-image climate crisis-inspired exhibition by photographer Anastasia Samoylova, opened Oct. 15 at HistoryMiami Museum. The exhibition is a large-scale project that examines and responds to the issue of rising sea levels and climate change.

Samoylova is a Russian American artist who works in a variety of mediums, including observational photography, studio practice and installation. Her work examines themes of environmentalism and consumerism through digital media and commercial photography.

After its run at HistoryMiami, iterations of the exhibition will also be presented at the Multimedia Art Museum in Moscow, the Orlando Museum of Art, The Print Center in Philadelphia and the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Va. The “FloodZone” book, which features photos from Florida, Georgia and Louisiana, was published by Steidl in 2019.

The project began in 2016, when Samoylova first moved to Miami and noticed severe flooding issues, especially near Miami Beach. As she was born and raised in Russia, this was her first experience living in a subtropical environment near an ocean.

“I was curious about the landscape, and I wanted to get to know it better. And what better way to process it than through a lens,” she explained.

Through daily walks, she became aware of the way the tropical beauty of Miami cloaks the stark juxtaposition of the rapidly growing real estate market and sea-level rise. She's worried about how ocean views are highly valued, with little concern for high-risk flood zones.

Samoylova feels that investors and corporations are turning a blind eye to the fact that Miami is steadily sinking, and could be under water in the next 50 years. She believes Miami Beach can be used as a case study, especially after the deadly Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside.

In 2017, when Hurricane Irma hit, Samoylova and her 5-year-old son were not able to evacuate their condo in Miami Beach due to a gas shortage, and had to wait out the storm with no power. Once the hurricane was over, she surveyed damage in the neighborhood and noticed excessive flooding. That's when she knew she had to make that the focus of her next project.

“This is where I understood that this has to be it, even just for my own sake, for my sanity. I had to process these feelings through my work,” she explained.

Samoylova’s photography leaves a lot to interpretation.

“FloodZone is beyond the obvious,” she said.

While FloodZone's photography is centered on consumerism and its impact on the environment, the images cover a wide range of issues that Miami residents are forced to live with, but also contribute to, such as excessive flooding, high-rise developments and manatee population loss.

Samoylova has purposely placed each and every photograph of the exhibition in a specific area. Her goal: to capture the vibrant and diverse streets of Miami, particularly Miami Beach, and the developments being built, in order to show how Miami might feel artificial and like “a fantasy world.”

“The project is built on these kinds of contrasts. I didn't want any kind of stereotypical environmental photography because I feel like the issue is beyond that,” Samoylova said as she pointed to a photograph of a natural collage. On one side, there's famed architect Zaha Hadid's building on Biscayne Boulevard; on the other, there's roosters in Overtown.

In one gallery space, Samoylova placed three images side by side that show the contrast between Miami’s reality and Miami photos. The first image is a beautiful scenic island. The second image shows four trees that fell over during Hurricane Irma. The third image is a billboard in Miami Beach of a fictitious hotel populated by fictitious people. They all, however, have the pink aesthetic for which Miami Beach is famously known. These kinds of contrasts show the “meta reality” that is Miami, said Samoylova.

As she traversed the streets of the city, she discovered more and more ways that consumerism has harmed the environment. She learned that rotten concrete turns pink because of high-octane gasoline, also known as premium gas. She also learned that the trees around Miami International Airport are not native. In fact, they are an invasive species called melaleuca.

“I wanted to show how it feels to live here, how it feels to walk the streets, what you see, what you notice and also how complex these feelings are,” said Samoylova. She said she often asks herself “How long term is this? At what point are we going to pack up and go? Can we still save it?”

Because much of the region is surrounded by water, Miami and Florida in general are disproportionately affected by climate change, which also has a disproportionate but indirect impact on areas like Little Haiti. Neighborhoods like Little Haiti, which is at least 10 feet above sea level, are becoming more appealing to investors, she claims.

For the majority of people who live in those communities, that is their only home, whereas residences in new developments are rarely primary homes. Rather, they are typically investment properties and vacation homes, so there isn’t as much at stake if rising sea levels destroy that property – as opposed to a family's only home, or worse, a multifamily unit in one of those areas, said Samoylova.

And while the city may benefit economically by these real estate transactions, they are destroying the environment. Samoylova believes that what is most important at this time is transparency and awareness, so that people are prepared to potentially relocate, elevate their houses or take other climate adaptation measures that may be necessary.

Samoylova hopes that FloodZone will reach a wide audience and spark a discussion about the severity of climate change as the exhibition travels throughout the United States.

“There is a much greater interest to the issue right now, where people understand that this is not localized,” she said. “And while this work can serve as a case study, there are much wider conversations to be had.”

Michele Reese Granger, director of marketing at HistoryMiami, has worked at the museum for six years. While she has seen many exhibitions pass through its spaces, Granger said the museum felt that this was an “evocative documentary photography project that people needed to see,” as it covers such a relevant and pressing topic.

“It's something that we really wanted people to stop at, take a pause and think about. That’s what this exhibition does,” she said.

Samoylova added that she understands how tough it is for people to refrain from contributing to the issue of consumerism, and recognized that she contributes to it herself simply by getting in her car and driving around Miami every day. However, she knows that at least basic changes can be made if an effort is made, such as reducing the use of plastic, not littering and avoiding fast fashion as much as possible. FloodZone, she says, is a call to action.

“Business,” said Samoylova, “cannot go on as usual.”