How does it feel like to lose your home, your farm, your forest.. to a fire? To have your entire world colored black - the black of charred trees, charred earth, ash everywhere? Rabbit and Sofee (his pregnant girlfriend) survived a forest fire by fleeing just in time. Their ecological community farm did not. We asked them to share what this feels like in a photographic project called ASH. This is them after the first part of the photoshoot. Unposed and unaware I was taking the photo - it's a raw portrait of human emotion. It shows me the deep love they feel for each other. A love which I believe will triumph over this tragedy.

With the ASH project we want to raise awareness about the loss that comes with these fires. Most victims aren't even human - animals did not have time to outrun this fire. And the saddest part is that these fires aren't accidents. There is a complex mechanism that makes certain people profit from these tragedies. Portugal has a battle ahead - a battle for the safety and sanctity of nature.

This project was started in the aftermath of the forest fires in Monchique, Portugal, last august.
A big heartfelt thanks to Rabbit & Sofee (and also Germaine, Sara, Maria) for being so incredibly brave to open up in a moment of grief

Photography: Bartjan de Bruijn
Collaborating partner: Maria Stuut
Original idea of using ash as bodypaint to take photos for an art project to raise awareness: Kate