Marine pollution from untreated industrial waste has undoubtedly created something aesthetically pleasing in Rosignano Solvay. The beach is so picturesque that Vogue Italia even featured it on the front cover of their magazine’s September 2021 issue.
Rosignano Solvay Beach on Vogue’s cover page (Source: Euronews)
The water in this photo, created by Massimo Vitali, is supposed to symbolise “new beginnings” as said on the cover, regeneration and life. Ironically, it is actually so toxic that it is has killed fish and other marine life. It is frustrating how this pollution is being capitalised on by both political leaders and commercial enterprises like Vogue.
Beaches with white sand and blue crystalline waters may not actually be pristine and unpolluted as we are led to believe. What we see in tourism-related and beauty-related media is carefully staged; they may not capture the ugly realities of such idyllic landscapes — in this case, the industrial pollution being justified and hidden by those in power.
In my opinion, Vogue has perpetuated the lies of local political decision-makers. While both Vogue and Vitali clarified that they didn’t intend to “glorify a polluted beach“, Vogue is a world-renowned fashion & lifestyle company with immense influence on the perceptions of what is considered beautiful and desirable. The beach’s pollution is thus further enabled by such publicity since the white sand, though toxic, is considered desirable to oblivious or ignorant beach-goers.
To be clear, Vogue’s feature is not the real problem. Their involvement in this situation has instead inadvertently highlighted and fuelled mainstream discussion on how those in power have covertly decided that Solvay’s pollution is a worthy trade-off for economic gain. These powerful figures do not want to lose the potential for future economic growth that Solvay brings, which I covered in my previous post.
According to VICE, Italian traditional media censors this case, and only became more widely known on social media last year (see @ciaosasha’s viral video below; there’s another viral YouTube video linked in VICE’s article but this it’s in Italian). Though worrying, the wide international reach and influence of viral social media content can hopefully spread greater awareness for this “eco crime” as @ciaosasha dubs it, which could possibly lead to progressive action. While holding Solvay accountable is a gargantuan task, progressive change could be in form of pressurising leaders to stop falsely advertising the beach water as safe, since knowledge of its toxicity seems to be increasingly prevalent in Italy and internationally.
Media portrayal of the same place can clearly vary dramatically, used to perpetuate lies or expose realities. Where Vogue unintentionally contributed to the normalisation and ignorance towards the pollution of Rosignano Solvay, some individual social media content creators have used their platform to criticise and raise awareness about the issue at hand. Therefore, the prevalence of social media adds to the complexity of how pollution will and can potentially be addressed.
Watch @ciaosasha’s viral videos sharing a critical perspective on the situation at Rosignano Solvay:
@ciaosasha Shame on the environmental “protection” agency that refused to do anything about it. ☣️ #ecology #crime #crimetok #scandal #nature #earth
References:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/qj895x/rosignano-soan-idyllic-beach-made-the-cover-of-vogue-italia-but-not-the-huge-chemical-plant-behind-it
