Copenhagen

For the first time, the photographer has visited the eastern coast of the islands of Zealand and Amager, more specifically in Copenhagen. He photographed exclusively in monochrome this city theoretically submersible by 2080 according to climatologists. But this is without counting on the determination and innovation of the Danish people who have rethought their urban planning for several years. Its appetite for the environment has long been known: recycling, renewable energies, carbon neutrality, cycle paths, etc. But another major challenge faced the Danes: saving their capital from the rising waters! Some neighborhoods have grown by the creation of surfaces on the sea by accumulating building embankments or by drilling land holdings on submerged land while ensuring a safety margin of a few meters above sea level. The most important project was to rethink the existing spaces and buildings in the city center in order to facilitate the drainage of rain; ever more important and recurring precipitation. By adopting an optimized absorption in the soil, with new paving, rainwater is now directed to natural environments in parallel with already approved solutions such as retention and storage basins, green roofs, gardens and urban green spaces. In this series, his photographs bring together a succession of very diverse documentary images of Copenhagen where, you understand, the issues climate are at the heart of the Danes' concerns. The desire to put in place smart solutions and structures has emerged since a few years, enough for Copenhageners to look to the future with some optimism.
Copenhagen, Denmark. October 2021.