A series of photographs that ask how to remain hopeful when up against the daunting realities of climate change and racism
In the Teeth of the Most Terrifying Odds
![Photograph where two white concrete walls come to a corner; a security camera is near the center of the frame, blue sky in the background](/assets/Tejan_Rahim_1.jpg)
![Photograph of a twisted mass of white railing against a white sky; the shapes suggest the structure might be a roller coaster, but there's nothing to clearly put the image in the context of a larger scene](/assets/Tejan_Rahim_2.jpg)
![Photograph that is a closeup of bright green bags, filled with something lumpy; a few dried leaves on a twig emerge from one of them](/assets/Tejan_Rahim_3.jpg)
![Photograph of ivy on two side of a wall; the leaves one side are sun-blanched while the others are deep green](/assets/Tejan_Rahim_4.jpg)
![Black-and-white photograph of a person at the edge of the sea, back turned, in silhouette](/assets/Tejan_Rahim_5.jpg)
![Photograph of a man standing at a railing overlooking the sea; a large pole in the foreground obscures most of his form](/assets/Tejan_Rahim_6.jpg)
![Photograph of partially parted white curtains in the foreground, through the part, a dark room, where a round lighting fixture stands out against the background, almost like a full room](/assets/Tejan_Rahim_7.jpg)
![Very dark photograph showing the hinge of a partially opened door, the light coming though the frame makes an inverted L of orange and yellow on the otherwise black field](/assets/Tejan_Rahim_8.jpg)
“This project, inspired by James Baldwin’s letter to his nephew, is about remaining hopeful ‘in the teeth of the most terrifying odds’ (both a quote from the letter and the title of my project). The project is an attempt to consider how I (and others) are to remain hopeful when up against the daunting realities of climate change and racism. The photos are an attempt to visually represent the anxieties of growing into an environment that, by all accounts, is becoming increasingly unlivable.—Tejan Rahim, @tejan.rahim
An image from “In the Teeth of the Most Terrifying Odds” was originally published inThe Gallatin Review, volume 34.