Résidence 1+2 is a partner in the Grande commande photojournalisme 2022.

A photographic investigation whose origins lie in the unexpected and harmful arrival of the toxic tropical microalgae Ostreopsis on the Basque coast and its proliferation in 2021. Pablo Baquedano bears witness to the environmental and health challenges that the fight against coastal water pollution involves on a local and national scale.

“When I embarked on this project, thanks to the support of the BNF, I imagined offering a series of images that would bring together photojournalism and science. What I’m proposing after a year’s work on this subject is more of an impression; these images are there to convey a feeling, a sensation of concern and unease about the extent of the various forms of pollution on our coasts.”

These photographs were produced in 2022 as part of the major national commission “Radioscopie de la France: regards sur un pays traversé par la crise sanitaire”, financed by the French Ministry of Culture and piloted by BnF.