The images comprising this visual narrative describe the aftermath of one of the largest environmental disasters man has perpetrated - the death of the Aral Sea, the planet’s fourth largest lake.

Although these events unfolded on the opposite side of the earth, this ‘natural’ disaster of man’s own making has become part of the collective ecological consciousness worldwide. The story of the Aral Sea is one of the important tales of our time, dramatically representative of the larger issues facing our world. It is also part of a longer narrative––the ageless and ongoing struggle between man and nature.

This tragedy was largely born during the Cold War, when the Soviet authorities redirected two major rivers previously replenishing the Aral Sea. The rivers were made to irrigate the vast cotton fields throughout Central Asia. This agricultural practice strangled the Aral Sea and destroyed its ecosystem, in turn bringing a total economic collapse for the area. It set in motion an environmental migration and created serious health risks for the remaining population. The future seemed anything but bright for the local children whom I watched everyday as they passed by the rusting hulls of ships on their way to school. None of them had ever seen the sea itself, yet the seashells were softly crackling under their feet as they hurried to their classrooms.

My photographic documentary traces the century-long ecological decline of the Aral Sea. The photographs examine this environmental tragedy in detail, to discover its root causes and to meditate on its future implications. My objective was to create a visual record of the repercussions of this catastrophe, as well as to present this story in its complexity and in its historical, political, and global context as a metaphor for our continuous and collective efforts to transform this fragile earth. In today’s ever shrinking interdependent world, the story of the Aral Sea is a sobering preview of what our future may hold.