Between Flames and Ashes is a photographic series documenting the environmental devastation caused by wildfires in the Calamuchita Valley, Córdoba Province, Argentina. It explores the intertwined fates of the forest, its wildlife, and the volunteer firefighters who risk everything to protect them.
Due to the expansion of agribusiness, real estate speculation, unchecked deforestation, and climate change, only 2% of native forest remains in Córdoba. With fewer trees, rainfall decreases, rivers dry up, droughts intensify — all of which feed more frequent and destructive fires. It’s a vicious cycle: without forest, there is no water; without water, the forest dies. These fires not only destroy biodiversity but also threaten the survival of entire ecosystems and human communities.
The series is structured as a visual sequence that alternates images of flames and ashes, creating a rhythm that evokes both destruction and the silence that follows. Scenes include a firefighter rescuing a puppy, a cow standing desolately in a scorched field, a fire truck piercing through a wall of fire, a charred tricycle, flames devouring the forest, a fox running across a bed of ash, a firefighter confronting the blaze head-on, among other evocative images. Each photograph contributes a piece to this visual narrative of loss, courage, and resilience.
More than a story of fire, Between Flames and Ashes is a call to awareness. It reveals a silent war unfolding in the forgotten valleys of Córdoba, where human bravery confronts the consequences of our collective neglect. The viewer is left to consider not only what has been lost, but what might still be saved.
Between Flames and Ashes-1
A young volunteer firefighter holds a small puppy she rescued in her arms protecting it from the blaze during a devastating wildfire in Los Reartes Cordoba Argentina br
Between Flames and Ashes-2
A charred tricycle lies amidst a blanket of ash in a forest ravaged by flames from a massive wildfire on the road to Villa Alpina Calamuchita Valley Cordoba Argentina
Between Flames and Ashes-3
A volunteer fire truck advances through the flames battling the blaze during a brutal forest fire in Los Reartes Cordoba Argentina
Between Flames and Ashes-4
A cow stands desolate amid a blanket of ash after a wildfire ravaged over 12 000 hectares of forest devastating wildlife and local communities near Villa Alpina Cordoba Argentina
Between Flames and Ashes-5
A volunteer firefighter inside a fire truck surrounded by flames during an intense forest fire near Los Reartes Cordoba Argentina
Between Flames and Ashes-6
A house among ashes in the middle of a pine forest affected by a large forest fire near Villa Alpina Cordoba Argentina
Between Flames and Ashes-7
A fierce forest fire ravages a pine forest near Villa Alpina in the Calamuchita Valley Cordoba Argentina
Between Flames and Ashes-8
A fox runs desperately through the ashes during a massive forest fire in Intiyaco Cordoba Argentina
Between Flames and Ashes-9
Volunteer firefighter battling the flames during a large forest fire in Los Reartes Cordoba Argentina
Between Flames and Ashes-10
View of the large mountain ranges and pine forests amidst smoke and ash ravaged by fire during a massive forest fire near Villa Alpina in the Calamuchita Valley Cordoba Argentina
Between Flames and Ashes-11
Flames advance fiercely through a pine forest during a large wildfire in the Villa Alpina area of Cordoba Argentina
Between Flames and Ashes-12
An exhausted firefighter at dusk after a long day battling the flames during a large forest fire in the Villa Alpina area of Cordoba Argentina