Otherworldly Portraits in an Age of Rising Sea Levels

SINK / RISE is the third chapter of The Day May Break, Nick Brandt’s ongoing global series portraying people and animals that have been impacted by environmental degradation and destruction. This third chapter focuses on South Pacific Islanders impacted by climate change and serves as a stark reminder of the looming reality many island nations face. The local people in these photos, photographed underwater in the ocean off the coast of the Fijian islands, symbolize the many people who stand to lose their homes, land and livelihoods in the coming decades as the water rises.

The images—all shot in-camera underwater—are hauntingly beautiful. But beyond the immediate visual impact, Brandt’s work delves deeper, asking: how did we get here? What does the future hold for these communities? And how can we mitigate, if not reverse, the damage? Brandt’s emphatic portraits bridge the often abstract concept of climate change and are a reminder that behind every statistic about rising sea levels, there’s a tangible human story.

NICK BRANDT (*1964, London) studied painting and film at St. Martin’s School of Art, London. In 1992 he moved to California, where he still lives today. Since 2001, he has documented the destructive impact that humankind is having on the natural world and, as a result, on humans themselves. Chapter One of his seminal series The Day May Break featured photographs taken in Zimbabwe and Kenya in late 2020. Chapter Two was shot in Bolivia in 2022. In the third chapter Brandt introduces color to the series, highlighting the all-encompassing impact of the water.