Ocean Rage

Matilde Gattoni

Shot along the coasts of Ghana, Togo, and Benin, this exhibition documents the devastating impact of climate change on West Africa’s shorelines. Over 7,000 kilometers of coastline from Mauritania to Cameroon are eroding at rates of up to 36 meters annually, displacing tens of millions of people. While governments race to protect cities and industries, countless villages are abandoned, pushing centuries of coastal life toward extinction.

Once-thriving fishing communities in Ghana and Togo have become ghost towns, lost to the sea in just two decades. Homes, churches, and plantations disappear, along with cultural heritage and social bonds. Rising temperatures deplete fish stocks, while erosion and salinisation cripple agriculture, leaving communities without food, water, or livelihoods.

As survival becomes increasingly challenging, migration depopulates villages of their most resourceful inhabitants. Those who remain face unemployment, addiction, and the exploitation of criminal networks involved in fuel smuggling and sand mining.

This crisis is not confined to West Africa: it is a warning of what humanity faces if development continues to outpace environmental responsibility. As urbanisation and consumerism intensify, traditional communities are sacrificed, even as dwindling resources call for a profound reevaluation of priorities.