Kinga Wrona
85
21 April - 27 April 2023


When it comes to questions about how the volcanoes work, practically everything is a mystery. Signals may appear before the eruption, but it is never certain it will occur. It is almost impossible to determine the time when the eruption starts and the moment when magma becomes unstable or predict the intensity of the eruption. Volcanoes eruptions form and reform the Earth, create land for a living, they make life happen. La Palma (Spanish island) only exists because of volcanic eruption built this land long time ago, forming the archipelago known as the Canary Islands.

When I heard for the first time about the volcano eruption on La Palma, I was wondering why they live there and how it is to live on land which is a kind of bomb and can explode at any moment of your life. During my trip to La Palma, from a distance,I saw something that looked spectacular - a natural phenomenon.  In reality what happened there was a big social tragedy. Family homes, educational and business centers, meeting points for generations, the church and the cemetery have been buried under lava and ash. People also struggle with depression, anxiety or insomnia. Some of them couldn’t come back to their homes more than year after eruption.

The project visualises the human story through the photographs of nature which entered peoples life suddenly and unexpectedly, at the same time showing how fragile and delicate is the environment shaped and managed by man . Even living on the volcanic island, no one ever can be prepared for a natural disaster of this magnitude.The volcano Cumbre Vieja on La Palma has been the most destructive of the last century in all of Europe. Around 85 000 people call La Palma their home.

Kinga Wrona (b. 1983, Poland) is a documentary photography based in Krakow.

In her latest projects, Wrona explores the relationship between humans and nature in relation to climate change, natural disasters and environmental degradation.

She was nominated by Fotofestival, Lodz for FUTURES 2023. Her images have been published in numerous magazines such as FOTO Magazine, The Calvert Journal, National Geographic and New York Post, whilst her projects have been exhibited internationally. 85 has been exhibited at Circulation(s) Festival 2023 in Paris, France.