The multi-award winning Bangladeshi documentary photographer Abir Abdullah took to the stage at the International Photography Festival ‘Xposure’, to shine light on one of the most pressing and complex challenges of our time in a presentation titled “Climate Change – The Global Threat”.
Presenting his long-term projects focusing on the impact of climate change in his home country and around the world, the prominent commentator commented on his body of works illustrating climate change’s impact on various regions and communities.
“I grew up beside a river, a polluted one, ironically. My parents had to buy drinking water for the entire family”, Abir noted as he explained the very foundation of his interest in documentary photography.
The presentation focused on the issue of uninhabitable areas where populations are forced to relocate due to temperatures rising and sea levels increasing in his home country. “The problem with climate immigration is not losing original inhabitants; but also the memories made around them”, he stressed.
“The effects of global warming had already been felt in various parts of the world, ranging from extreme weather patterns to the deterioration of natural ecosystems and floods”, Abir warned while sharing a photograph of Gabura, an area expected to be below water level in fifty years.
The photographer also noted that “as natural disasters become more frequent and intense, communities are forced to flee their homes and seek refuge elsewhere”. This had led to significant challenges in terms of social and economic stability, as well as the protection of human rights.
The talk was a much-needed opportunity to explore the impact of climate change from the lens of a photographer to promote better understanding of the complexities of climate migrants, as well as the urgent need for global action to address it.