Wish You Were Here

This series explores vacation culture amidst the climate crisis and how it plays, often unconsciously, into ‘last-chance tourism’ – tourism to destinations irreparably changed by the climate crisis and may eventually vanish altogether. The more tourists visit these environments, the more widespread the climate crisis becomes, and the more last-chance tourism grows.

With the work spanning four continents and over ten years, viewers can relate to these places seared into our minds as idyllic dreamlike destinations while immersing the viewer into landscapes populated with happy vacationers seeing fading coral reefs, melting glaciers, and sea level rise threatening coastal communities worldwide. With 2023 being the hottest year on record, ecosystems and humans struggle to adapt to an ever-changing world inching toward the 1.5-degree threshold set out in the Paris Agreement.

Using a film-based multiple exposure technique (not Photoshop), Sarah creates dreamlike images that evoke nostalgia and longing and highlight the dissonance between nature, tourism, leisure and environmental crisis. The accompanying captions, however, present the dark truth being observed: a deep fascination for things that won’t last.