DENIAL IS A RIVER IN EGYPT
-YOUR HUSBAND IS GAY-
From United Nation's "CRED Publication - 2023 Disasters in Numbers - A Significant Year of Disaster Impact."
Click the image for the article’s link.
Why Harbinger?
So let me set the scene/ outline the inciting incident:
It’s 2023. Summer in the Okanagan. Those picturesque blue skies have devolved into a fiery, smoky mess. And as flames ravaged its way through the valley, a conversation between residents is overheard on/around day 07 of this firestorm beginning.
NEIGHBOUR 1 (flippantly): Oh, I know! I don't know why Global's making such a big deal out of it. Like, it's just another summer in the Okanagan. Not like we haven't seen it before.
(NEIGHBOUR 1 Folds her arms.)
NEIGHBOUR 2: Yeah, we've certainly gone through worse. (NEIGHBOUR 2 gestures at another neighbour’s home.) Have you talked to Sam lately? His kids think it's like everything else that has happened this year with the floods and stuff… but we've been having fires for years here. I only started hearing about Climate Change recently! Guess what? we're still here!
- END SCENE -
🫠
…..
Yep.
But y’know the worst part is? That sample wasn’t actually that abnormal. Most of the small talk I encountered with locals (notably 40+ individuals) were identical to that conversation that ranged from the random, limited-interaction-family-members-I-only-talk-to-on-birthdays, to staff members at my chiropractor’s office; literally everyone relegated the fire like another Grammy awards ceremony, and looked like this:
Looking outside, all there is to a hazy orange ball, shards of ash falling, and a dense, practically impenetrable blanket of sepia clogging the mountain view.
RANDO 01: Oh, it’s just another Okanagan summer, right? I think people are overreacting.
Me: Well, no - I think it’s an appropriate response. These shouldn’t be happening so frequently.
RANDO 02: What do you mean? It’s just mother nature. Same with everything else.
Me: I mean, Climate Change has really wreaked havoc on everyone this year: I wouldn’t say it’s just mother nature. Be weird if we weren’t affected tbh.
RANDO 01 rolls their eyes. RANDO 02 crosses their arms.
RANDO 01: This isn’t a political thing, you know.
RANDO 02 ( with a smug smile): I bet you watch the news a lot, don’t you?
Me:
Them:
Me:
GOTTA GO BYE
💃
See, the thing is I genuinely didn’t think it was problematic to say that, nor did I think it was unrealistic to believe someone other than my own mother and friends have that understanding of natural disasters, local or otherwise. So when people similar to RANDO 02 would mockingly ask me if I watch the news - behaving like their dismissive ignorance was some rebel armour - royally pissed me off, especially since it seemed to be the reigning majority, even in Canada.
From Mapping 100 years of forest fires in Canada:
As of August 29, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre which maintains a live database of fire activity across the country, reported 1,069 active fires, more than half of which are considered out of control.
Global vs Local
Now, I have a theory about this.
Already, it’s far too easy to otherize systemic issues when they’re intangible, often looking like the following:
A) “Oh, well, that’s over there, I’m over here where it’s safe!”
B) “We already went through one Ice Age. Who’s to say it’s not another?”
C) “It’s still snowing…? I thought it was called Global Warming."
D) “Everything looks the same. I don’t see change!”
And for Canadians, this mindset can be even more pronounced; it’s far too easy to “create your own” narratives on Climate Change when Canada’s natural disasters are rarely linked to Climate Change in mainstream media. Even as Canadians, we’re inundated in oodles of reports and footage from American outlets like CNN and New York Times on filling our Apple/Google news suggestions or the TikTok/Insta/Facebook feeds tying, for example, NYC’s flooding, Maui’s decimation, Greece’s fires, etc. to Climate Change. Moreover, too, that coverage is oversaturated with exploitative horror imagery that some dub “disaster porn” to drive viewership (the uglier it is, the more interesting, unfortunately), making it even easier to become desensitized to Climate Change.
This is all to say, essentially, it’s difficult to parse through what’s advocative and graphic for the sake of it - and doubly, unintentionally blurs what “qualifies” as Climate Change.
Hence why I created Harbinger: a photo essay that squarely focuses on the 2023 Okanagan fire, particularly focusing on how the urban and natural landscapes were affected. Advocacy doesn’t seek spectacle: it seeks to reveal and educate by showing all aspects of these tragedies, regardless of whether it crosses the profitable “great and terrible bad” threshold. Thus, I hope by contextualizing this wildfire in a “quieter sense” i.e. the smoke permeating everything, the sunset in the smoke, is equally indicative and horrifying to consider as symptomatic of Climate Change.
Indifference can feel like a compass to navigate our info-rich lives, but indifference is more like a pacifier - a tool that merely suspends discomfort instead of eliminating it. And as the antipathy towards truth and reality only grows, I see this series combatting and legitimizing how Climate Change doesn’t manifest in a singular way. Thus, by demonstrating this fire doesn’t portend anything less serious than New York, New York’s flooding or Greece’s overwhelming fires, I hope people’s perspectives are expanded and empower engagement.
From Drivers and Impacts of the Record-Breaking 2023 Wildfire Season in Canada:
Undoubtedly, the increasing potential for wildfires in Canada is symptomatic of the changing climate; in fact, it was estimated that the heat dome would have been 150 times less likely to occur without the ongoing anthropogenic climate disruption.
If You’re Interested…
I. . Explained: The Relationship Between Climate Change and Wildfires - shortest; a comprehensive explanation on their interrelation.
II.Why polar bears are no longer the poster image of climate change - medium length; an analysis on the problematic ways of photographic advocacy.
III. Disaster Porn! - longest one; an open source journal article that explains disaster porn and its proliferation. It’s kinda old, but it’s still relevant.
(Also, you can click all the infographics for their sources.)
