The vanishing island

Went to the Sony Photography Awards Show last weekend at Somerset House, and this series by Paris-based Korean photographer Dae Sung Lee was what impressed me most (he won 3rd prize in the Contemporary Issues category).  The shots depict the powerful effects of land erosion caused by the rising levels of the sea and the inhabitants of an island called Ghoramara off the West Bengali coast.  The islanders are mostly farmers and fishermen whose livelihoods are in such jeopardy that the Indian government has already formulated plans to relocate them.  See more of his work here: Dae Sung Lee

Back to the land

Lucas Foglia is an American photographer who has spent several years documenting the off-the-grid way of life various communities in the South Eastern states have chosen to follow. The reasons for doing so are various; religious, economic, political or ecological.  Lucas maintains that whilst some of those he met might live in the simplest yurt, none of them were totally isolated from the modern world; they have laptops or cellphones they charge using solar power but they just choose what they want to retain and reject.  Lucas showed this enchanting series called Natural Order amongst other work at the Michael Hoppen Gallery in London last year (as well as other galleries internationally) and it was published in beautiful book-form by Nazraeli Press last year.  See more here: Lucas Foglia