THE SOUTHERN CONE
PART I CONCEPTION, CHILE

2010

After the Shock

On February 27, 2010, a massive earthquake struck off the coast of central Chile. With a magnitude of 8.8, it was one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded. The force of the quake triggered a tsunami that devastated several coastal towns and severely damaged the port of Talcahuano.

Just days later, I flew to Concepción to document the aftermath. The scale of destruction was staggering—collapsed buildings, fractured roads, and lives overturned in an instant. I worked in collaboration with Un Techo Para mi País, a Chilean NGO dedicated to rebuilding homes and restoring communities in the areas hardest hit by the quake and tsunami. Amid the wreckage, I witnessed extraordinary resilience and the quiet strength of people coming together to start again.

From Concepción, I continued south, eventually reaching Punta Arenas—the southernmost city in Chile—before crossing into Argentinian Patagonia. The landscapes shifted dramatically, from ruined coastal towns to the wide, wind-swept spaces of the southern frontier. It was a journey through contrasts: from catastrophe to stillness, from fragility to the enduring force of nature.

What began as a response to disaster became a meditation on place and vulnerability—on how landscapes remember, and how people rebuild not only homes, but hope.