Water

Water and humanity are moving towards a crisis.

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Title: Swimming in the Yangtze. Chongqing, China, 2015. Caption: China is predicted to become the world’s largest economy, and the pressure that its rapidly expanding industry puts on the natural environment is expected to grow, too. As China develops, and as its overseas investments lead to increasing impacts in other countries, its choices will be pivotal for the future of our planet. It is possible that development in this vast country could result in China becoming a global leader in renewable energy and clean technology. The situation across the vast Yangtze River basin is a prime example of China at a crossroads. The nearly 700,000-square-mile (1.8 million-square-kilometre) basin supports a third of China’s 1.3 billion people, and half of the country’s species of wild animals, fish and plants. In recent decades increases in shipping, pollution, illegal fishing and infrastructure construction have impacted on the freshwater supply and the communities and wildlife that depend on it.
Title: Makeshift water pool in dry creek bed. Highway 38, San Bernardino County, California, USA, 2015. Caption: None.
Title: Bewatoo, Tharparkar, Pakistan, 2013. Caption: Women pull water from a well in the Thar Desert, where temperatures hover at around 120°F (48-50°C) on summer days. With an extremely low water table and continuing drought, sometimes water must be hauled from a depth of 150-200 feet. “Women fall unconscious on their way to these dug wells,” says Marvi Bheel, 45, a resident of Bewatoo. The journey can take up to three hours. From the water-scarce regions in southern Ethiopia to the desert wells of Pakistan, it is women who are primarily responsible for gathering water.
Title: Brackish water scratched from riverbed, Konso Region, Ethiopia, 2013. Caption: Brackish water dug up from a dry riverbed is exposed in the southern Konso Region of Ethiopia. Women and young girls trek for hours in the early morning, queue in lines to scratch the water to the surface. The issues are many: a lack of access to clean water jeopardizes the health of all, but children the most, while the time mothers and daughters spend detracts from child education, family connectivity and women's ability to pursue jobs that would increase their household income and improve their community.
Title: Uchiya Nallo, 8 months pregnant, Konso Region, Ethiopia, 2013. Caption: At the center of this struggle to survive are the women and young girls whose responsibility it is to trek up to five hours a day to reach dry river beds, only to wait in long lines for scant resources. Uchiya Nallo, an eight-months-pregnant 29-year-old mother, spends half her day climbing a mountainside carrying more than 5 gallons (about 40 pounds) of water. “The road is very dangerous and I feel tired all the time,” she says. “I am worried because sometimes I fall down and hurt myself. I worry because I feel tired. Now I am almost ready to give birth and I am walking slowly but maybe I will have some problems, I’m not sure.” The correlation between the risk of maternal mortality for women in the developing world and access to safe water and sanitation is little understood. When water is gathered for drinking or washing, any contaminants or infectious agents can have a direct effect on maternal health. Infections and repeated worm infections from unsafe sanitation lead to other risks such as malnutrition, stunted growth and fatal obstructed labor. And the physical strain from carrying the water is itself dangerous, resulting in a higher risk of spinal injury, uterine prolapse, rheumatism hernia and spontaneous abortion.
Title: The water pump, Osukputu, Benue, Nigeria, 2015. Caption: Women and children gather at the hand pump, which serves the entire community of around 800 people with clean, safe water. For Osukputu, access to this water means better health, improved livelihoods and happier families. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country, recently overtaking South Africa as the continent’s largest economy. It is projected to become the third most populous country in the world by 2050. However nearly 60 million people still live without access to safe water and more than 100 million live without adequate sanitation. This is particularly felt in rural areas, where a lack of state provision of services leaves the poorest and most vulnerable in society unable to break the cycle of poverty.
Title: Cholera education, Holy Trinity Primary School, Freetown, Sierra Leone, 2012. Caption: Children in the Holy Trinity Primary School in east Freetown watch a cholera educational video from the Sierra Leone Red Cross Mobile Cinema Unit, which has toured the country in the aftermath of this year's cholera outbreak. Children, women and young girls are at the most risk for cholera, which is transmitted through water and food because they are typically responsible for collecting water for their families.
Title: Construction of bridge over Ganges tributary, Bihar Province, India, 2013. Caption: Men bathe underneath the construction of a new bridge linking Haijipur and Sonepur over the Gandak River, a tributary that feeds into the Ganges River in the same area. The construction of new bridges is a common sight on the Ganges River as India expands and links cities that were once separated by the river. This bridge, located in the Bihar Province of eastern India, serves multiple roles for the needs of people who live along it: bathing, a source of water for cooking and transportation. As the Ganges progresses through highly populated cities, the role it plays transforms from spiritual to necessity.
Title: Paraguay River, Cáceres, Mato Grosso, Brazil, 2015. Caption: The river is central to daily life in Cáceres, and Claudio and his family come there regularly to swim and play. But just a few miles away, the main sewage pipe pumps directly into the water and fishermen search for an ever-decreasing supply of fish. Poor sanitation is a common issue in this region. Cáceres treats only 10% of its sewage – 30% below the national average. The Mayor of Cáceres has committed to protecting the water sources. He is calling on the community to work together to reduce the amount of pollution in the river.
Ttitle: Classic Club golf course. Palm Desert, California, USA, 2015. Caption: None.

Mustafah Abdulaziz

Mustafah Abdulaziz (b. 1986, New York City, USA) is an American documentary photographer living in Berlin, Germany. His on-going pro…

Topics
Environment
Sub Topics
Drinking Water Drought Rising Sea Level
Regions
Various Worldwide
Drinking Water

About Water

Initiated in 2011, “Water” is a fifteen-year photographic project. Water and humanity are moving towards a crisis. We live in a time when 650 million people have no access to safe drinking water; when our rivers, basins and lakes are affected by decades of industry; when rising sea levels are placing Pacific Islanders in the cross-hairs of becoming the first climate refugees.

The complexity of our relationship with water reflects our greater behavior towards our environment, which we’re beginning to understand has a defining impact on our planet. “We used to think that energy and water would be the critical issues of the 21st century,” says Mostafa Tolba, former head of UN Environment Program, “Now we think water will be the critical issue.” Spanning across countries and themes, the goal of Water is to build a overarching understanding of how humans and water interact at this critical juncture.

If we are to see ourselves as one with nature, and not inseparable from it, then we must see ourselves in the reflection of water.

Biography Mustafah Abdulaziz (b. 1986, New York City, USA) is an American documentary photographer living in Berlin, Germany. His on-going project “Water” has received support from the United Nations, WaterAid, WWF, and VSCO, has been reviewed by Phaidon, Monopol and published in Der Spiegel, The New Yorker, TIME and The Guardian. Worked as the first contract photographer for The Wall Street Journal. In 2012, was named one of PDN’s 30 Emerging Photographers to Watch. His work focuses on man’s relationship with the natural world. His archive is represented by Ostkreuz Agentur der Fotografen. His prints are represented by Milk Gallery.www.mustafahabdulaziz.com