Sofia Aldinio

Visual Journalist & Multimedia Storyteller
 
Until We Are Gone
Location: South Portland
Nationality: Argentine
Biography: Sofia Aldinio is an Argentine documentary photographer and multimedia storyteller. She is currently based in Portland, Maine. Her work uses collaborative practices to tell stories about home, immigration, climate change, and preserving natural and... MORE
Private Story
Until We Are Gone
Updated Apr 2022
Topics Culture, Documentary, Environment, Journalism, Photography
Summary

 Until We Are Gone is an ongoing photography project documenting how climate change is uprooting small, inland and coastal communities in Baja California, Mexico, that depend directly on natural resources to survive and thereby threatening cultural heritage. The project highlights the uncertainty these communities face as possibly the last keepers of their cultural heritage as climate change upends their way of life and pushes the younger generations out in search of sustainable livelihoods. 

Climate change is the central threat to life as we know it. Across Baja Sur Region of Mexico, extreme drought has caused the depletion of water, essential vegetation, medicinal herbs, and wildlife, collectively pushing traditional subsistence communities and their heritage of living off the land to the brink of survival. The starkest example of this is in San Jose de Gracia, a 200 year old, once thriving canyon community of multi-generational families, where now only 21 people remain. 

Prevailing climate change conversations focus on extreme weather disasters, economics, and the politics of migration. What is missing from that dialogue is the steady erosion of cultures shaped by living directly off of the land for hundreds of years. 

My work explores how communities that depend daily on natural resources to survive, such as spring water, fish and wild foods are already experiencing uncertainty in their lives and what it would mean for these communities to migrate and leave their land and culture behind. It highlights the importance of viewing loss of cultural heritage as collateral damage from climate change, and explores what that means for the younger generations left in its wake.

The project was born to uncover what critical lessons we can learn about perseverance, sustainability and adaptation from these communities as mankind braces itself for more extreme conditions across our planet.

While I am actively documenting three communities, the grant money will be used to finalize documenting the most remote community within the story, San Jose de Gracia. This particular community is an example of what is already happening in different desert communities, and what has already happened in abandoned communities.

I am actively seeking funding for the overall project, but I see the benefit from getting partial funding to cover the cost to document the communities individually, as a way to raise awareness for the overall topic. Becoming a grantee will not only allow me to fund this trip but also opens up a door to raise awareness for the overall topic.  

Also by Sofia Aldinio —

Story [Unlisted]

Parley/Maroma - Clean Up

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

Parley/Maroma - Portraits

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

Monarchs & Milkweed - Exhibit

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

Botanical Gardens

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

Solar Eclipse Houlton Maine

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

Still Life

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

Monarchs & Milkweed

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

The People of the Canyon

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

Monarchs & Milkweed

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

The People of the Canyon

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

I Will See You Tomorrow

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

I Will See You Tomorrow

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

Lewiston Mass Shooting

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

Until We Are Gone

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

24 Hours vigil Yosemite Foods

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

24 hs vigil Yosemite Foods

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

48 Hours vigil Farmer Johns

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

Belonging Workshop & Exhibit

Sofia Aldinio / Array
Story [Unlisted]

Maternal Rural

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

Hasta Que Ya No Estemos

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

Copy - Until We Are Gone

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

Hastaquenoshayamosido

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

PPH - Minimum Wage

Sofia Aldinio
Story [Unlisted]

Tearsheet

Sofia Aldinio
Until We Are Gone by Sofia Aldinio
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