Travels Through Islam: Memory of the Maldives

2 minute read
A man stands at the end of a seawall on Dhiggaru island, Meemu atoll. March 2009.Chiara Goia for TIME
By Chiara Goia

This is the third installment in a five-part series from TIME International’s annual Summer Journey issue, Travels Through Islam: Discovering a world of change and challenge in the footsteps of the 14th century explorer Ibn Battuta.

The Maldives are becoming a memory—a place in continuous transformation into its own duality: a touristic, heavenly escape from usual life and a fervent Islamic country with an interesting political and social history.

Maldives is a nation of 1192 islands stretched over 600 miles in the western part of the Indian Ocean. Having the lowest elevation of any other country in the world, the islands are threatened by the rising sea levels caused by global warming. Some scientists claim it will be one of the first places in the world to disappear.

I have been photographing in the Maldives since 2009, documenting the local life and showing its contradictions as well as its preciousness and vulnerability. These qualities don’t lie exclusively on the environment, but also on the culture and on its society: a community in a large scale or a microcosm made of thin balances.

My goal is to create an extended personal portrait of a country, which in the near future might not appear to our eyes the same way it does today.

Chiara Goia is an Italian documentary photographer based in India. A frequent contributor to TIME, her portraits of women living with the stygma of vitiligo have been featured on TIME.com.

In part one of the Summer Journey series, Dominic Nahr photographed Ibn Battuta’s path into sub-Saharan Africa. Part two featured Lynsey Addario’s photographs of romance and dating in Saudi Arabia. Check back tomorrow for part four of the series.

A man stands at the end of a seawall on Dhiggaru island, Meemu atoll. March 2009.Chiara Goia for TIME
A fish seller's shadow on a wall of the fish market in Male. September 2009.Chiara Goia for TIME
Two young men sit on a barrier in the capital Male. On the other side the airport island. August 2009.Chiara Goia for TIME
A canary bird inside a house on local island Kudafari, Noonu Atoll. July 2010.Chiara Goia for TIME
A young man flies his kite on a reclaimed land area in Viligili island, in front of the capital, Male. Reclaimed land is very common in and around the capital Male as a way to fight erosion and sea level rise and also to make more space for new buildings. August 2009.Chiara Goia for TIME
Two men swim near the reef of Ukulhas island, Ari Atoll. November 2009.Chiara Goia for TIME
People pray during the first evening prayer at Masijidhul Bahaauhdheen Mosque in Male, during Ramazan in August 2009. During Ramazan all the mosques in Male get overcrowded and many people have to pray on the streets.Chiara Goia for TIME
A typical Maldivian sail boat at dusk on Magoodhoo island, Noonu Atoll. July 2010.Chiara Goia for TIME
Men sit on tetrapods on the south side of capital Male, during sunset. November 2009.Chiara Goia for TIME
2 young students stand on a street in Kudahuvadhoo island, Dhaalu atoll. March 2009.Chiara Goia for TIME
A sign warns boats for corals on resort island Soneva Fushi, Baa Atoll. March 2009.Chiara Goia for TIME
A man walks on the edge of an installation, made during the first Democracy Fair, on November 2009: one year after President Nasheed was elected as the first democratic leader, after a 30-year dictatorship of former president Gayoom.Chiara Goia for TIME
Men fishing tuna from a fishing boat in Ari Atoll. Tuna fishing in the Maldives is not done with nets, but only with fishing rods. November 2009.Chiara Goia for TIME
A man walks in front of a set of concrete blocks, which are going to be utilized to build a harbor in Kinolhas island, Raa atoll. November 2009.Chiara Goia for TIME
Three generation of women hang out by a sea wall in Male. November 2009.Chiara Goia for TIME
A child floats in the water of the port of Maghoodhoo island, Noonu Atoll. April 2011.Chiara Goia for TIME
An island during sunset, on the way to Baa Atoll. July 2010.Chiara Goia for TIME

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