Walking On the Waters that Once Were

This, which looks like a desert, was recently a branch of the Amazon River. The man crossing the sandy shore must now walk the kilometers that he previously did in a boat. He is a fisherman, and his house is now too far from the stream. Every day he emulates the famous miracle of walking on water... only his waters are no longer there.

Beyond the impact of the image, there’s a pressing drama: the drought that affects even the largest river in the world has become a problem for hundreds of communities that depend on fishing for their survival.

The photograph was taken last year, in Porto Praia, Brazil. The climate crisis is not an alarmist story: it’s right there. This drought is not the result of the normal succession of seasons: it obeys the random logic of an environmental disaster. Turning water into sand is not a divine miracle... it’s the work of man.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff