The Burning Country
In January 2017, Central Chile has been experiencing wildfires of an unprecedented scale. Loses have been hard on people and the amazing landscape of these regions.
As I type these lines, Chile is about to enter the third week of the largest, greatest, baddest wildfire in history. Having my residence in Santiago, I’m not quite that close to the worst part of it, but closer fires have turned our skies gray, as a vivid evidence of what’s happening not further down South.
But being a few hundred kilometers away only allows a distant and absolutely inaccurate rationalization of what the people losing their houses, crop fields and animals, not to mention risking their own lives, might be experiencing.
As a nature photographer, I now recognize I had the privilege of visiting and photographing places that have been confirmed to be burnt down and where people had no other option but fleeing desperately to save their lives and maybe some few possessions.
Having visited sites of previous wildfires, I am certain all these places will grow back somehow and nature will once again find its way.
So here’s a small selection of pictures that remind me of this catastrophic event while it continues.
