Instagram story viewer> @seb.mortimer> Posts

Seb M | design etc

@seb.mortimer

206

followers

172

following

🌊🌿🌊🌿🌊
Design and things
@totum.studio
@sebastianmortimer

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Karen Luza, a water rights activist and community leader based in San Pedro de Atacama, told us how lithium mining was transforming their lives.

The Atacama desert is both the driest place on earth and an area rich in lithium, a critical mineral required at scale for renewable technologies. Lithium extraction however, is a thirsty process, which requires pumping vast quantities of lithium‑rich brine out of the ground and leaving it to evaporate in sprawling ponds.

The Atacama desert is palpably dry, so much so that during my time there I woke up gasping for water at night. In such an arid landscape, lithium mining puts intense pressure on traditional ways of living, as water that once sustained wetlands, crops and animals is used for lithium extraction.

Karen told us about the delicate Pre‑Incan irrigation system, established 11,000 years ago by indigenous people in the area and designed to fairly distribute water to sustain life without exhausting the source. This system has been disrupted with the introduction of lithium mining to the area. Freshwater pumping affects groundwater levels and the behaviour of rivers, wetlands and lagoons.

Water levels in the local river, upon which locals depend to grow crops and raise livestock, have dropped sharply since the expansion of mining activity in the region.

Lithium mining at scale is dramatically altering the local landscape. Yet on an international scale, we are under intense pressure to scale climate solutions and cut emissions sharply, and minerals like lithium and copper are critical to this transition from fossil fuels.

I walked away deeply conflicted about this tension but certain that regions that are not rich in minerals and metals, like much of Europe, must invest seriously in circular economies for recycling critical metals to avoid over extraction in mineral dense areas, usually in the global south.

As for Karen she fought relentlessly to protect her and her people’s way of life and preserve the land upon which they relied. She was fiercely loyal to her ancestry and people, persistently and tirelessly advocating for their rights to water. by @seb.mortimer

49

0

a month ago

Outtakes from our exhibition of Re-Placed, @sebastianmortimer and I’s research project into climate migration and overurbanisation in South America earlier this year at @weare_lis taken in London, United Kingdom by @seb.mortimer

111

7

a month ago

Karina Pacaya-Cruz, an indigenous leader in Lima, Peru told us of the joint environmental and economic pressures pushing her, and her wider community, to relocate from a small village in the Amazon to the capital of Peru, Lima.

The lack of education and professional opportunities for their children, the lack of medical care combined with environmental degradation all contributed to their migration. An oil spill into the river upon which they relied for drinking water, harvesting crops, washing clothes and more challenged their basic needs. Ultimately making life as indigenous people in their own land impossible.

But Lima, the capital city, was not a flawless urban refuge. Life as indigenous people in the capital city brought its own challenges, some of them environmental.

Finding somewhere to live with minimal resources or capital saw Karina and her community find home wedged between two big roads. Air pollution from cars and dust was, and is, an ongoing problem, one which has caused serious respiratory health issues for the community.

Despite adversities in rural and urban life, Karina was fiercely proud of her culture, language and heritage and maintained a deep sense of pragmatic positivity, the positivity of someone who’s overcome and is still overcoming real challenge. She introduced herself not in Spanish but in her indigenous language and spent the best part of our time together working on a cultural bracelet she sold to tourists.

When our time together was almost over I bought the bracelet, it doesn’t fit but it’s been a sturdy bookmark for several years and it reminds me of her and her story ❤️🇵🇪 by @seb.mortimer

38

1

a month ago

Thanks to everyone for an amazing show despite being cut short

especially co-organisers @josh.bulman.totum.studio and @reubenslost

Also huge thanks for the extraordinary effort made by @matttrobo during setup taken in SE15 by @seb.mortimer

62

2

5 years ago

taken in Battersea by @seb.mortimer

28

0

6 years ago

Missing this kinda flower power by @seb.mortimer

33

1

6 years ago

hill-ception

#collagephotography #blackandwhitephotography #bnwcollage taken in Holkham Beach, Norfolk by @seb.mortimer

44

2

6 years ago

Agra Crowds 2019

#tajmahal #busybees #blackandwhitephotography taken in Agra, Uttar Pradesh by @seb.mortimer

39

3

6 years ago

Battersea Blur

@totum.studio #totumstudio taken in Albert Bridge, London by @seb.mortimer

31

2

6 years ago

@tilly_mortimer on the beach

#35mm #bnwphotography #filmphotography #totumstudio by @seb.mortimer

35

0

6 years ago

Vietnam 🇻🇳
•••
#travelphotography #collageart #totumstudio taken in Hai Van Pass by @seb.mortimer

26

2

6 years ago

Battersea Nights

#totumstudio #blackandwhitephotography taken in Battersea by @seb.mortimer

33

0

6 years ago