Dara Scully is a Spanish photographer who in 2022, decided to travel to the Northernmost point of Europe and capture the beauty of glaciers and frozen landscapes in a series titled Daughter of the North. In each photograph, women's bodies, often in the nude, appear amongst otherwise sub-zero conditions. There, both women and nature appear vulnerable. As the women lay succumbing to the elements, the glaciers melt into the oceans.
Both women and nature are losing their power and grandeur, symbolizing the codependency between humanity and Mother Nature, as when one dies, the other will, too. These pieces call for urgent action to help stave off today’s rampant environmental destruction, events that have been so heavily felt in certain parts of the world, especially in the depicted tundra. This is why Daughter of the North by Dara Scully is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of Climate Action and Gender Equality.
The 2023 Copernicus Climate Change Service Climate Indicators have shown that since the 1980s, glaciers around the world have lost over 8,226 giga tons of mass. The report also outlined how these glaciers have contributed to more than 22 metres of global sea level rise, with 44 percent of this contribution happening in the last decade alone. Hence, the very real threat of the melting glaciers that Dana Scully had depicted in Daughter of the North.
Since all the people depicted are women, these pieces also carry ecofeminist messages. Ecofeminism is a political and intellectual movement from the 1970s that combines feminism and environmentalism. The movement coincided with some of the first Western environmental movements that realized that there would be an environmental catastrophe of global proportions. At its core, the movement argues that the oppression of women at the hands of the patriarchy walks hand-in-hand with the exploitation of Mother Nature at the hands of capitalism—ecofeminism advocates for a shift of values to benefit all genders, society, and the environment.
This message can be seen in a photograph that belongs to the Daughter of the Glaciers mini series from Daughter of the North. In the photograph, two women are seen sitting weakly as they face a melting glacier in front of them. However, the body of water behind them shows the reflection of three empowered women, who stand tall and proud against a healthy glacier. The reality depicted above water reflects today’s environmental and feminist losses, meanwhile the reality reflected on the water, reflects a hopeful future that Scully’s audiences can strive towards.
Dara Scully's Daughter of the North is a haunting and evocative photo series that intertwines the vulnerability of women with the fragility of the natural world amidst the rapidly melting glaciers of the Arctic. Through her powerful imagery, Scully captures the codependency between humanity and nature, emphasizing that the decline of one inevitably leads to the downfall of the other. By portraying women as both victims of and witnesses to environmental degradation, Scully challenges her audience to reflect on these global crises' interconnectedness and strive for a future where both women and nature can thrive. Her art is not just a call to action but a vision of hope, urging society to shift towards values that protect and empower all.
Find out more about Daughter of the North and other pieces by Dara Scully on their website, www.cargocollective.com/darascully.