In 2016, Anastasia Samoylova (American, b. Soviet Union, b. 1984) moved to Miami, Florida. As she familiarized herself with the city through photography, a larger story began to unfold. The resulting body of work, FloodZone, explores what it looks like to live in the southern United States at a time when rising sea levels and hurricanes threaten the most prized locations with storm surges and coastal erosion.

Samoylova’s lyrical photographs are deceptive, drawing us in with a seemingly documentary promise of a palm-treed paradise. Their alluring color palette—filled with lush greens, azure blues, and pastel pinks—gives way to minute details that reveal decaying infrastructure, encroaching flora, and displaced fauna.

Both seductive and eerie, Samoylova’s images show us what it is to live at the edge of a climate crisis, a space where palm trees topple over onto buildings, where the patina of constant moisture results in dank mold on a freeway overpass, where the sky fills with golden hues after the storm. Somewhere between the artifice and the sobering reality lies the melancholy of living with the constant burden of climate anxiety.

About the Artist

Anastasia Samoylova (American, b. Soviet Union, b. 1984) is a Miami-based artist who moves between observational photography and studio art practice. Her work explores notions of environmentalism, consumerism and the picturesque. Recent exhibitions include Fundación Mapfre; C/O Berlin; Eastman Museum; Chrysler Museum of Art; The Photographer’s Gallery, London; and Kunst Haus Wien. In 2022 Samoylova was shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize. Her work is in the collections at the Perez Art Museum, Miami; the High Museum of Art, Atlanta and Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; among others. Published monographs include Image Cities (Fundación Mapfre / Hatje Cantz, 2023), Floridas (Steidl, 2022) and FloodZone (Steidl, 2019).

Public Programs

Thursday, February 8, 12 p.m., online via Webex

Anastasia Samoylova in conversation with Mark Alice Durant

Anastasia Samoylova and Mark Alice Durant, professor of visual arts at UMBC and publisher of Saint Lucy Books, will discuss Samoylova’s FloodZone and the art of the photo book.

Monday, April 22, 5 p.m., Library Gallery

Climate Change, Science Communication, and the Arts:

An Earth Day Panel Discussion featuring Anastasia Samoylova

How do climate scientists share their research and data with the wider public in a way that non-specialists can understand? How might art contribute to this urgent work? A panel discussion will feature artist Anastasia Samoylova in conversation with scientists and media historians specializing in science communication. (Participants to be announced.)

Visitor Information

Library Gallery hours:

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Thursday: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday: 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Admission to the Library Gallery is free, and visitor parking is available in the adjacent Walker Avenue Garage.

UMBC is located about 15 minutes from downtown Baltimore, and about 25 minutes from the Washington Beltway, I-495.

Online: librarygallery.umbc.edu