In contrast to the wet and nocturnal images of my ‘degradation pictures’, these sunset images convey a clarity in their fidelity, and a literal brightness in their illuminated form.

As the sun sets in Phong Phú (Ho Chi Minh City), the emerging moon pulls the rivers that surround the commune upwards which floods the land. The severity of the flooding is based on the height of the rivers which is further determined by the seasons, like the monsoon periods, as well as oceanic sea level rise that engorge the rivers. Night fall is then akin to an omen for things to come. As the lunar flooding of tonight becomes the permanent flooding of tomorrow. The southern half of South East Asia is due to be underwater by 2050 according to today’s climate predictions.

Here with these photographs, a permanent sunset is staged through a yellow-orange light that radiates through the smoggy skies of each image depicting Phong Phú in the early Twenty First Century. This current moment in 2022 does indeed feel like a sunset period. A moment before the flooding is permanent. A moment before the flooding is simply known as the shoreline.

This also feels like a sort of mourning.

Above is a picture of my friends observing the rising river waters in Phong Phú during sun set.