route to Doomsday
To begin with, petroleum extraction and utilization play a significant role in environmental degradation, releasing greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. Additionally, negative consequences such as oil spills, pollution, droughts, and permafrost melting further exacerbate these environmental issues, with considerable health implications for humans (climate change can exacerbate more than 50% of recognized human pathogenic illnesses).
In tandem with this, deforestation poses another critical challenge for climate change. It diminishes the Earth's ability to absorb carbon dioxide, a pivotal greenhouse gas, and releases stored carbon when trees are felled and either burned or left to decay.
This process leads to elevated CO2 levels in the atmosphere, intensifying global warming and the broader implications of climate change.
The project demonstrates two factors contributing to climate change and two resulting physical consequences. Additionally, in the faces of the models, you can sense the deep sadness that symbolizes the potential future outcomes to the mental state of humankind if the climate crisis continues to escalate.
The photo project was created by makeup artist Rimvydas Klimas and photojournalist Farshad Usyan in participation in the CreateCOP28 competition by Art Partner.
Crude Oil
The look is inspired by the abundant presence of crude oil and petroleum in our daily lives, found in synthetic fabrics, plastic products, and packaging materials, carries unintended consequences, including climate change, ocean pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Photographer - Farshad Usyan
Makeup - Rimvydas Klimas
Model - Steven Lee Thang
Permafrost
The melting permafrost is a looming threat, as it may trigger a catastrophic release of harmful greenhouse gases. This unsettling possibility is likened to the symbolism of a medical mask, hinting at a future where clean air could become a precious resource in perilously short supply.
Photographer - Farshad Usyan
Makeup - Rimvydas Klimas
Model - Jenny Tam Thai
Drought
Rising from parched soil, a mask emerges, symbolizing the dearth of water caused by extreme heat, leading to the absence of clean air. It evokes a haunting sense of suffocating dryness. For the execution makeup artist used a clay mask and dried mint leaves.
Photographer - Farshad Usyan
Makeup - Rimvydas Klimas
Model - Jamesly Journal
Deforestation
As the trees are cut down, their beauty vanishes away, leaving behind only a faint shadow of what once thrived. Where there was once a vibrant Amazon forest, now stands a haunting, ghostly island.
Photographer - Farshad Usyan
Makeup - Rimvydas Klimas
Model - Iryna Liezvinska