Adriana Thomasa

Documentary photographer and photojournalist
 
Building with ashes
Location: Valparaiso, Chile
Nationality: Spanish
Biography: Adriana Thomasa (1994, Melilla, Spain) Documentary photographer and photojournalist based between Chile and Spain. Her work explores and focuses in social issues related with identity and territory, migration, social movements and environment.
Public Story
Building with ashes
Copyright Adriana Thomasa 2024
Date of Work Jan 2020 - Aug 2020
Updated Feb 2021
Location valparaiso
Topics Abandonment, Climate Change, Community, Documentary, Environment, Fire, Forest, Forest Fire, Hope, Human Rights, Inequality, Loss, Pandemics, Photography, Photojournalism, Spotlight
Construir con las cenizas (2020)

Los incendios forestales son recurrentes en Valparaíso. Cada año, una gran cantidad de incendios se producen en la región, muchos de ellos cerca de sectores habitados llegando a devastar poblaciones completas. Ya en 2014 y 2017, Alimapu (tierra quemada en mapudungun) vio arder sus alturas y destruir más de 2500 y 250 viviendas respectivamente. El último gran incendio que llegó hasta zonas pobladas, se produjo el 24 de diciembre de 2019, originándose en un terreno en la parte alta de Valparaíso y llevándose más de 300 casas.

El abandono institucional de las zonas periféricas, la presencia de especies exóticas como pinos y eucaliptos a través de antiguas plantaciones forestales que hoy en día se encuentran sin manejo; y la falta de políticas públicas contundentes en materia de prevención de incendios, además de las condiciones de fuertes vientos y altas temperaturas en una región afectada por la sequía, son algunos de los factores que contribuyen a que estos desastres se sigan repitiendo y afectando a las zonas olvidadas de la ciudad puerto: las alturas de los cerros y las quebradas. Este trabajo explora la resiliencia porteña ante los incendios forestales, documentado cómo la familia Gallardo Soto, afectada por el incendio del 24 de diciembre de 2019, reconstruye poco a poco su hogar, ante la llegada del invierno y en plena pandemia, mientras espera las viviendas definitivas prometidas por el estado.
Building with ashes (2020)

Forest fires are recurrent in Valparaíso. Every year, a large number of fires occur in the region, many of them near inhabited sectors, devastating entire populations. Already in 2014 and 2017, Alimapu (which means "burned land" in Mapudungun, Mapuche voice to name the bay of Valparaíso) saw its heights burn and destroy more than 2,500 and 250 homes respectively. The last major fire that reached populated areas occurred on December 24, 2019, originating in a land property in the upper part of Valparaíso and taking more than 300 houses. 

The institutional abandonment of peripheral areas, the presence of exotic species such as pines and eucalyptus through old forest plantations that today are unmanaged; and the lack of strong public policies on fire prevention, in addition to the conditions of strong winds and high temperatures in a region affected by drought, are some of the factors that contribute to these disasters continuing to repeat themselves and affecting the forgotten areas of the port city: the heights of the hills and the ravines. This work explores resilience to forest fires and documents how family Gallardo Soto, a family affected by last Valparaíso fire (December 24, 2019), rebuilds their home little by little, before the arrival of winter and in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, while waiting for the definitive homes promised by the state.
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Oxígeno Laboratorio Cultural

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Fuera de campo

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The awakening

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Building with ashes by Adriana Thomasa
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