As visual researchers, photographers and artists, our practice lies at the intersection of science, documentary and art. Coral reefs, and hard corals in particular, have been our personal obsession since 2013, when we were living in Kuantan, Malaysia. Since then, we’ve been travelling the world in search of the last coral reefs and exploring their ecosystems. Year after year, we’ve witnessed the coral bleaching.

At the same time as world leaders and policymakers were discussing solutions to the climate crisis at COP27, we travelled to Egypt aiming to explore its marine life and meet some climate emergency activists and experts.

The conferences took place in Sharm el Sheikh, an exclusive resort-town on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. With luxury hotels, lush vegetation and countless pools, it’s anything but sustainable. Instead of staying there, we decided to head over Ras Mohammed National Park, one of the Red Sea’s most amazing natural areas. An underwater garden with over 200 species of soft and hard corals ‌
We stayed at the Bedawi Camp, an eco-camping set on one of the most beautiful bays in the area. Right there, it’s just a fossils desert and a whole coral reef. We met Hala Barakat, an Egyptian botanist attending COP27. A member of the scientific group that has been helping to protect the park since the 1980s, she was staying at Bedawi Camp because it was far more environmentally sustainable than any hotel in Sharm. There was no artificial light, no internet, the toilet was ecological, no running water and no food options –meaning that you can only eat what the Bedouins provide you, which is somehow a blessing in contemporary life.

It’s one of the most mind-blowing landscapes we’ve ever seen. The soil, the desert, is made up of fossilised coral reefs dating back to the Pleistocene and Holocene era. We like to think of fossils as organic messages from past eras that have survived as minerals with hidden information within them. Like cryptic messages from the past for us to decipher. And sadly, they are telling us about deceased marine life from the past. What about the corals that are still alive? Will they survive the acidification of our soils and oceans? Will they be able survive global warming?

It’s often said that life is a matter of contrasts. Not far away from that magnificent place, global leaders, policymakers, scientists and climate activists were discussing solutions to limit the impact of climate crisis. Global warming could damage half of the world’s coral reefs by 2035 if nothing is done to mitigate it. Lots of energy might be needed. Lots of creativity might be needed. And radical alternatives might be needed.