Virginia Hanusik?s everyday images tell the story of a changing coastline Climate change presents photographers with a unique challenge; how to instantly capture the massive impact of an incremental, slow-moving phenomenon. In Louisiana, one camerawoman believes she can help tell that story through detailed, real-time images of the state?s slowly sinking coast.
Virginia Hanusik?s photo project, Backwater, came from her desire to capture the impact of climate change on urban and coastal Louisiana without resorting to cliches. By snapping pictures of homes and landscapes in the Delta region, an increasingly vulnerable area that?s always had a close relationship with its shifting waterways, Hanusik wants to show the impact of sea level rise and shifting sediment, and how residents and communities are dealing with the challenge (some have even begun relocation efforts). ?I?m really focusing on buildings and infrastructure as symbols of larger issues,? she says. ?It?s not about photographing after a major flood or a storm. Those are powerful images, don?t get me wrong. But I?m more focused on daily life.?

Home Overlooking Lake Martin near Breaux Bridge, LA

Beginning of the Bonnet Carre Spillway, Norco, LA

Hanusik, who grew up in New York?s Hudson Valley, became intrigued with the subject after her work in coastal reclamation and water management for a New Orleans-based startup accelerator exposed her to the state?s unique relat...