Fault Line by Jakob Ganslmeier and Ana Zibelnik at Fotomuseum Den Haag

Over the next few years, Hague-based photographers Jakob Ganslmeier (Germany, 1990) and Ana Zibelnik (SIovenia, 1995) will be working on the impact of the climate crisis on Southern Europe.

Overview

Fault Line portrays the impact of the climate crisis in Europe by looking at the myriad of responses within society. From migration driven by environmental factors, eco-anxiety and activism on the one hand to the troubling surge of populist rhetorics, it questions how the accelerating rhythm of disasters leads to a deepening of polarisation and erodes our collective resilience.

In the first part of the project, the photographers focus on climate anxiety. This psychological phenomenon is especially prevalent among young people, who are increasingly less certain about their future. For some, climate fear is paralysing, for others it stirs them to take action.

Last spring, Ganslmeier and Zibelnik contacted young climate activists in Italy who are affiliated with movements such as Fridays for Future. They experience fear, anger and despair, but they are also calling for action and concrete policies. The photographers also sought out Italian policymakers who deny climate change and who use climate fear to promote their nationalist agendas. While the photographers were working in Italy, there were urgent reminders of how dire the situation is: heavy rainfall led to severe flooding in the Northern Italian region Emilia-Romagna. The consequences of these disasters form the background to the series of portraits.