The Sea Moves Us, The Sea Moves (Migration processes in the face of climate change)
Fuvemeh, Ghana, a fishing village located between the Atlantic Ocean and the mouth of the Volta River has disappeared. It no longer exists, not even on Google Maps, and only exists in the memory of those who lived there.

The coastal erosion and the rise of the oceans, a direct consequence of global warming, have gradually disappeared coastal communities along the countries of West Africa. With the well-known migratory movement, a total of thirteen countries and nearly ten thousand kilometers of coast are disappearing. Fuvemeh is a clear example of this.

Years ago the inhabitants of this village saw their lands, houses, and “lives” disappear with each rise of the high tide.

The defenses, barriers and breakwaters, built by cooperation projects, have also been swallowed up by the sea.

The inhabitants of Fuvemeh, who can, have fled to other houses, villages, and countries. A few hundred meters above the shore, they wait and wish that the sea does not return, because for many of them, it is the fourth time they’ve changed.

Sometimes, with the low tide, they return to their houses to what is left of it: walls; windows; the threshold of a door. Sometimes there is nothing.

An empty physical space they fill with their memories. These double photographs are taken in those moments. 

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Antonio Pérez was born in Tarifa (Cádiz), Spain, Europe’s last southern border. Since 1989, he is a photographer and a regular collaborator of educational centers, art galleries around the world, public institutions, and foundations working on international cooperation. With higher studies in History of Art at the University of Seville, Spain, and in Fine Arts at the University of Cologne, Germany, his work has appeared in individual and collective exhibitions, in prestigious publications such as Dictionary of Spanish Photographers (2014) and Dictionary of Andalusian Photographers (2014), and been recognized by different national and international awards. His work in recent years revolves around the non-relationship of human life with the earth, like his works Reciclantes and The Sea Moves Us, the Sea Moves Fuvemeh.