Amazon Deforestation / by Environmental Humanities Hub

Victor Moriyama, Brazil

Amazon Deforestation, 2019

Victor Moriyama, a Brazilian photojournalist, focuses his work on South America and the Amazon rainforest. Moriyama documents social and environmental violence in regards to agrarian conflicts, deforestation and conservation of rainforests, genocide of indigenous individuals, and climate change. This photograph is part of Moriyama’s “Amazon Deforestation” project, which highlights how the Amazon rainforest is faring under the control of Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro. Fire in the Amazon rainforest is primarily caused by humans as a result of ranching and logging, which can be defined as ecocide. This image is an aerial photograph, displaying how the scorched forest encroaches on the lush jungle landscape. The Amazon rainforest has an important role in regulating climate change and is home to diverse wildlife as well as thousands of indigenous people, which are all being disregarded and destroyed by fire for profit. Label by Elsa Rall