Hindus celebrate the birth of Lord Krishna in India and Nepal, in photos
Hindus celebrate the birth of Lord Krishna in India and Nepal, in photos
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The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
Trying to keep cool in an increasingly hot world
As temperatures rise around the world, the inequality between those who can afford to stay cool and those forced to suffer is laid ever more bare. For some, air conditioning is a given; for others it is an unaffordable luxury. The photographer Gaia Squarci and researcher Jacopo Crimi visited Brazil, India, Indonesia and Italy to photograph the stories of people in extreme heat and how they are learning to adapt to it. Their project, The Cooling Solution, visualises how people are adapting to rising temperatures and humidity among different socioeconomic groups, and investigates how accessible air conditioning is for these people. 31C (87.8F) | 65% humidity | An office worker at the Ministry of Public Works, a green building in Jakarta, Indonesia, 2022 Crimi said a lot of modern architecture was made up of isolated, air-conditioned units that crammed people in together. But after realising these flaws, some architects began using new technologies to designed buildings that do not rely on AC. 'We wanted to show positive examples,' said Crimi. 'Architects were implementing both modern ways of tackling heat, such as the building in the photo, but as well reviving ancient architecture. A solution exists for alternatives to air conditioning, but it requires affluence.' 28C | 71% | A family on a scooter in the Kemayoran neighbourhood of Jakarta, with high-rise buildings in the background, 2022 Squarci said the streets of this subdistrict in Jakarta were crammed with scooters with multiple riders on them. The temperature of the motorbikes and the weather made it an uncomfortable commute for riders and 'even if there is family in the photo, it speaks to the mass and plurality of people's experience', she said. With large buildings in the background, the photo illustrates a division of wealth between those in technologically developed areas and others exposed to the extreme heat on the streets. 29C | 72% | Children dive in the Cachoeira Piscininha do Silvestre, a waterfall in the neighbourhood of Cosme Velho in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, 2022 In this photo, young children swim in a pond to cool down. Although it is not the case here, there are cases when entering a polluted body of water is the only means for some people to escape the heat, leading to severe health risks. 'When deciding for this project how we were going to represent the topic of air conditioning, we decided we had to represent people from all social classes. Those with AC and those without,' said Squarci. 32C | 50% | Anna Gabriela Patrocinio Gregório (centre) and her daughters Lara, eight, and Sãnella, five, pose for a portrait at their home in a favela in the Santa Teresa neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro Crimi said: 'We found that the photos that were the most interesting and told the deepest story were the ones closely related to the intimate dimensions of a person.' Gregório said that while she was pregnant with her two children, she often felt sick and fainted because of the heat. With no windows in her house, she had to rely on a small fan on the floor to stay cool. 26C | 77% | Residents of Rio's Bangu district chat outside a shopping centre, a desirable destination because it has AC, 2022 This modern shopping centre in Bangu was built with air conditioning and attracts locals trying to escape the heat. Access to these air-conditioned spaces is especially important for the demographics that struggle most with heat, such as elderly people and children. For people who cannot afford an AC unit at home, these air-conditioned public spaces are often the only places where they can find respite. 26C | 77% | People stand in the streets of the fishing village of Worli, overlooking the residential buildings of Mahim, now a wealthy area of Mumbai, India, 2019 The unequal levels of wealth and affluence in Mumbai are shown on the two sides of the river, distinguishing the technologically advanced city in the background from the underdeveloped small settlement in the foreground. Squarci said the photo 'shows the transformation of the city, developing much faster in emerging countries than other areas that are trailing behind, living without the means to adapt to the growing heat'. 28C | 34% | Visitors gather to watch an informational video in an air-conditioned room of the Nehru Planetarium in Delhi, India, 2019 Spaces such as hotels, leisure centres and planetariums in India are accessible locations for wealthy people to enjoy air conditioning. The cinema room at this planetarium had AC installed, but for Squarci and Crimi, the room felt extremely cold and was in stark contrast to the heat experienced by lower socioeconomic groups in India. Squarci said the photo symbolised 'the abuse of AC, and I did not want to perpetrate visual stereotypes in these developing countries. It is important to include examples of the higher middle class and their experience in India and Brazil.' 31C | 60% | Tourists take over Piazza San Marco during the Festa del Redentore in Venice, Italy, 2015. The offer of flats for short stays is one of the main drivers of AC adoption in tourist cities At Piazza San Marco in Venice, tourists and residents must both endure and attempt to enjoy. The photo captures a child being thrown into the air, which Squarci described as 'a need to make the image interesting. Even when we are talking about something sensitive, I welcome anything that can catch people's attention. There are moments of joy and moment of leisure, even in these extreme situations.' 22C | 62% | A man stands on the balcony of a residential building in Bolzano, Italy, in the shadow of trees shielding him from the direct summer sun, 2022 The photo, taken from a hotel window, shows an older man leaning out of his balcony under the shade of a tree. Squarci and Crimi said: 'One of the most vulnerable demographics are the elderly, and because there was shade on the side of the building, he could thankfully access the open air.' The pair chose to visit Italy for this project because they want to connect western audiences to their message and bring the issue closer to home. 25C | 75% | A German family sits in the shade of a boat pulled aground on a beach in Stromboli, a volcanic island near Sicily, Italy, 2022 The shadow of a boat was the only shade on the beach. They said they did not expect it to be this unbearably hot, and the father said they 'scrambled for a little piece of relief from the heat' in the shadow of the boat. Squarci and Crimi said they often found themselves taking shelter in similar ways while working on the project. 28C | 68% | Andrea Squarci, 69, watches a tennis match on TV during a heatwave at Lido dei Pini, a seaside location about an hour away from Rome. The house where Andrea lives with his wife, Chiara, since his retirement in 2019, is right in front of the sea Squarci said her father usually did not use air conditioning and would open a window to let a breeze into the house, but that on rare occasions the temperature would be too hot for him and he would have to turn on the AC. Squarci took the photo of her father because she wanted to show a middle-class Italian person who could afford air conditioning and used it sparingly.
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
Hindus celebrate the birth of Lord Krishna in India and Nepal, in photos
News Hindus celebrate the birth of Lord Krishna in India and Nepal, in photos Show all 14
BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
James Fenton: Burma Star veteran recalls 'godsend' of VJ Day
Veteran James Fenton was in India preparing for an attack on the Japanese mainland when Japan surrendered to the Allied forces on 15 August 1945, ending World War 103-year-old described the surrender as a "godsend" for his unit, who were fighting in East last surviving Burma Star recipient living on the Isle of Man, Mr Fenton will be joining other veterans at a service at the UK's National Memorial Arboretum to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory over Japan (VJ) Burma Campaign was a series of battles fought between December 1941 and September 1945, concluding after Japan's Fenton, who was born in Lancashire, said it was only then that he thought he "might have survived the war". Mr Fenton grew up in Oswaldtwistle before being drafted into the Lancashire Fusiliers in July 1942, joining the Royal Artillery after his basic training was February the following year, the 178th Field Regiment he was part of was sent the journey onboard the Britannic, a leisure ship seconded to the military as part of the war effort, he said: "We didn't know where we were going."They had given us tropical kit but, of course, it's all very secretive and nobody wants to say where you're going to give anything away to the enemy."Arriving six weeks later in Cape Town, South Africa, the regiment transferred to another ship for the journey to Bombay in India, now known as Mumbai."When we got there, of course, we knew it was fairly obvious where we were going - we were going to be fighting the Japanese in Burma." Mr Fenton said combat in the jungle posed several practical challenges when advancing towards enemy forces."The difficulty is, when you're moving forward, you had to move somewhere where you could fire the guns," he said."In the middle of the jungle you couldn't just put them anywhere, you had to fire so that the guns weren't obstructed by the jungle or the trees."He recalled men sleeping in pairs in trenches, dug into the ground in a circle to protect the gun position, as the "nights were pretty calm".He said although the Japanese forces "didn't very often attack at night", they did "frequently shell us to keep us awake"."We didn't very often fire back during the night it was just a straight occasion, it was the Japanese firing us."Remembering the news filtering through of the Allied forces' victory in Europe in May 1945, he said: "Everybody was having street parties and we were there in the middle of a jungle firing guns, and Japanese firing at us, and this was still carrying on." As the Allied Forces drove the Japanese forces out of Burma in 1945, Mr Fenton's unit was moved to prepare for another offensive."Because my unit was an assault unit they then took us back into India and we were retraining again to make an attack on the Japanese mainland," he said."And that would have been a terrific problem and horrible for us."He said when news of the Japanese surrender came through he and his comrades were "more than relieved".That surrender was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August 1945, following the United States' destruction of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki."We realised if they hadn't dropped that atomic bomb at that time, if perhaps they had delayed that for three months, maybe four months, we were in a position then to make a landing on the Japanese mainland," he said."And that eventually would mean the slaughter of so many of the British and European and native soldiers that were making this attack."So that fortunately was really a godsend as far as I was concerned because I knew then that I might have survived the war." But VJ Day did not mark the end of Mr Fenton's service in East Asia, as his unit went into Singapore as occupation troops. "After this my time came along to get back home to England and I had then to wait for a ship to sail me back from Singapore back to Britain," he said."Getting back to England was a great sensation, we were going back sailing up through the channel, and disembarking at Liverpool we got a great welcome." Mr Fenton said he had only shared his memories later in life as ex-servicemen "never ever used to talk about the war" in its said he and his brother, Harry Fenton, who took part in the D-Day landings, had fought in the same war in different parts of the world but never discussed their experiences."I don't know what beach, or even where he landed," he being invited to attend the Royal British Legion's national service to mark the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, Mr Fenton was keen to accept."I heard that there were going to be people asked to celebrate, if you don't mind - celebrate - this occasion because it was going to be the last one," he said. "I thought, I can't say I'm a fit man and there are many things wrong with me, but I thought well if I can still manage to get there, I'm going."So there I am, I'm going." The BBC will broadcast a special programme live on BBC One and iPlayer, on Friday 15 of August between 11:30am - 1:00pm from the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
