As Paris emerges from a summer marked by historic heat waves, illustrator Marina Antonova has used her art to depict the severe impact of soaring temperatures on the city and its most vulnerable residents. France's capital recorded temperatures exceeding 40°C, straining both the urban environment and those without shelter.
Antonova, a Russian-born digital artist living in Paris for the past four years, has created a series titled *Chronicles Of A Heating Planet*, which explores how climate change has transformed everyday life into a harsh and often dangerous experience. Her drawings portray homeless individuals struggling to cope with the intense heat, contrasting sharply with office workers protected by air conditioning inside nearby buildings.
In a recent interview at her Paris apartment, Antonova described how the heat wave intensified conditions for the city's homeless population. "Usually winter is the hardest part for homeless people, now we have a situation where both winter and summer are horrific," she said. Her art captures scenes of despair, with figures curled on pavements or hunched in exhaustion, illuminated by an aggressive, acid-yellow color palette symbolizing the overpowering sun.
The heat posed unique challenges beyond the lack of warmth typical in cold months. Antonova noted the difficulty of relieving heat stress: providing water and ice offered fleeting respite against relentless high daytime and nighttime temperatures. The intensity of the heat also contributed to widespread wildfires, including a notable forest fire near Fontainebleau, on the outskirts of Paris, a region historically considered spared from such blazes. Across southern Europe, countries such as Italy, Spain, and France battled record-breaking temperatures and persistent fires.
The public health consequences were severe. France’s national public health agency reported approximately 7,200 excess deaths during this summer’s successive heat waves, based on statistical models comparing current data with previous years.
Antonova’s work extends beyond individual events to address a broader reality of a warming planet. “These paintings are not illustrations of a single event,” she explained. “They are observations of a future that has already arrived.” Her images also depict wildlife disoriented and trapped by advancing fires, highlighting how nature itself has been disrupted by climate change.
The prolonged heat has made Paris less hospitable, even for daily activities like walking outdoors. Antonova shared that when she sent her drawings to a friend in Russia, the reaction was one of surprise and reluctance to visit the city: “We called this series ‘anti-postcards’. The kind of postcards where you don’t want to go to the place. It’s a kind of sad joke.”
Looking ahead, Antonova suggested that rising temperatures could affect tourism, particularly during summer months, potentially altering the city's global appeal. Her art invites viewers to reconsider familiar landmarks in a new, more precarious light — one shaped by climate threats rather than historic charm.
To create her series, Antonova worked primarily on an iPad, drawing inspiration from photos she took around Paris. The digital medium suited her nomadic lifestyle as an immigrant and allowed her to respond rapidly to unfolding events, reflecting both immediacy and intimacy in portraying a city grappling with the climate crisis.