English photographer Nick Brandt has turned a cyclone-destroyed coral reef off the coast of Fiji into an extraordinary underwater photography studio, creating haunting images that document the devastating effects of climate change on ocean ecosystems. The reef, located one kilometer offshore from Savusavu on the Fijian island of Vanua Levu, was completely destroyed by Cyclone Winston in 2016, leaving behind what locals now call "the boneyard."
The underwater landscape resembled "millions of pieces of broken bone," according to Brandt, who described the scene of snapped-off coral fragments scattered across the ocean floor. "I hadn't grasped until then how cyclones can also destroy the ocean bed," the Los Angeles-based photographer explained. The devastated reef became the unlikely setting for the third chapter of his acclaimed series "The Day May Break," which depicts people and animals profoundly impacted by climate-changed environments.
Brandt's ambitious underwater shoot in April 2023 required extensive preparation and local expertise. He flew in from his Los Angeles home and assembled a comprehensive production team, hiring local crew members and obtaining necessary equipment including boats, communications gear, and professional scuba diving apparatus. The logistical challenges of creating an underwater photo studio demanded careful coordination between diving safety protocols and artistic vision.
However, unexpected weather patterns severely disrupted the planned shoot, highlighting the very climate instability Brandt sought to document. Fiji's wet season was supposed to have ended, but unseasonable storms proved so intense that photography had to be suspended for nine consecutive days due to mud runoff contaminating the water. "Everybody was saying, 'This isn't normal,'" Brandt noted, a phrase he has encountered repeatedly while documenting climate impacts across multiple continents.
This incredulous observation about changing weather patterns has become a recurring theme throughout Brandt's global climate documentation project. He heard similar expressions of disbelief while shooting the first chapter in drought-stricken Zimbabwe and Kenya in 2020, the second chapter in flood and landslide-affected Bolivia in 2022, and the fourth chapter in water-scarce Jordan the following year. "Everywhere I go photographing people impacted by climate change, they say, 'This did not happen in my childhood,'" Brandt observed.
The Fijian subjects featured in Brandt's underwater portraits represented a unique category within his broader climate change documentation. Unlike models in other chapters who had already lost their homes and livelihoods to environmental disasters, these individuals had not yet been permanently displaced. However, they served as witnesses to gradual but alarming environmental changes, observing the ocean creeping closer to their communities and experiencing the increasing intensity of seasonal storms.
The resulting photographs from this underwater session capture both the artistic beauty and environmental tragedy of the destroyed reef ecosystem. Images with titles such as "Akessa and Maria on Sofa for Sink/Rise," "Onnie and Keanan on Seesaw," "Petero by Cliff," and "Ben and His Father Viti" juxtapose human subjects with the skeletal remains of what was once a thriving coral ecosystem, creating powerful visual statements about humanity's relationship with our changing oceans.
