Photo © Hamed Nazari
Photojournalism - NOMINEE: Hamed Nazari
Crisis of Urmia Lake
Support this photographer - share this work on Facebook.
Urmia Lake in the northwest of Iran is twentieth lake and second salt lake in the world. This lake has begun to dry since middle 2001 and today is in danger of complete drying. Surveying satellite images shows that the lake has lost 88 percent of its space in 2015. the space of this lake was 100 kilometers in the maximum level in a last century but since 1995 it generally decreased.
The lake's level has been decreasing in 2366 square kilometers until 2011 and this procedure is continuing. The causes of decreasing lake's level are factors such as drought, using the water inordinately for the purpose of agriculture in the lake area, dam and mismanagement.the watershed basin of urmia, which is agricultural core of the area, contains 6/4 million population.and when the lake destroys ,not only residents of watershed basing are in danger but also almost 76 miliom persons who are living in 500 kilometers distances of urmia lake such as Azerbaijan, Armenia and Iran will be in danger.
Experts have expressed that when the lake dried, the moderate weather of the area will become tropical weather with salt winds. And it will change the area's environment. in addition to salt, many pollutions such as toxic heavy metals used in industry and toxic substances used in agriculture, has leaked into surface waters and subsurface waters which are related to the lake. If the lake dries, many of toxic substances become aerobic and also it increases the risk of respiratory illnesses for the ecosystem and people. Nevertheless, they don’t yet precede any drastic movement for saving the lake.
Lake Urmia has been a sensitive subject in Iranian politics for years. As recently as 2011, environmental protestors were jailed en masse for drawing attention to the catastrophic situation.
About author:
Hamed Nazari
Documentary Photographer-Film Maker-Video Editor.
Borned in Tabriz-Iran.
He started self-educated photography in 2007 and cooperated with interior journals and news agencies from 2009 until 2013.
In 2011 he started photojournalism and documentary photography by covering Iran's Azerbaijan area earthquake that year.
His main focus is on climate change, relatives, and religion in Iran.
Cooperation with Magma and Atlas magazines of Turkey 2013-2014.
Creator: River Production (Management & Production) agency representing leading talent in the creative fields- 2018.
Film:
-Rima: Documentary film (Multimedia)-About Urmia Lake (The Once Great Salt Lake)-2018.
Nominee:
-Sheed Documentary Photo Award Nominee - 2013-2014.
-Sony Photography Award mobile photo festival selection (as the top 20 mobile photographers in the world)-2015.
-International Photography Grant- Crisis of Urmia Lake-2017
Exhibition:
-Entrance to the exhibition section of the United Nations Photo Festival of Humanity HPA- China 2013.
-Group Exhibition in Silk Road Gallery-Tehran-Iran-2018.
-Group Exhibition in Hinterland Gallery-Vienna-Austria-2021.
The lake's level has been decreasing in 2366 square kilometers until 2011 and this procedure is continuing. The causes of decreasing lake's level are factors such as drought, using the water inordinately for the purpose of agriculture in the lake area, dam and mismanagement.the watershed basin of urmia, which is agricultural core of the area, contains 6/4 million population.and when the lake destroys ,not only residents of watershed basing are in danger but also almost 76 miliom persons who are living in 500 kilometers distances of urmia lake such as Azerbaijan, Armenia and Iran will be in danger.
Experts have expressed that when the lake dried, the moderate weather of the area will become tropical weather with salt winds. And it will change the area's environment. in addition to salt, many pollutions such as toxic heavy metals used in industry and toxic substances used in agriculture, has leaked into surface waters and subsurface waters which are related to the lake. If the lake dries, many of toxic substances become aerobic and also it increases the risk of respiratory illnesses for the ecosystem and people. Nevertheless, they don’t yet precede any drastic movement for saving the lake.
Lake Urmia has been a sensitive subject in Iranian politics for years. As recently as 2011, environmental protestors were jailed en masse for drawing attention to the catastrophic situation.
About author:
Hamed Nazari
Documentary Photographer-Film Maker-Video Editor.
Borned in Tabriz-Iran.
He started self-educated photography in 2007 and cooperated with interior journals and news agencies from 2009 until 2013.
In 2011 he started photojournalism and documentary photography by covering Iran's Azerbaijan area earthquake that year.
His main focus is on climate change, relatives, and religion in Iran.
Cooperation with Magma and Atlas magazines of Turkey 2013-2014.
Creator: River Production (Management & Production) agency representing leading talent in the creative fields- 2018.
Film:
-Rima: Documentary film (Multimedia)-About Urmia Lake (The Once Great Salt Lake)-2018.
Nominee:
-Sheed Documentary Photo Award Nominee - 2013-2014.
-Sony Photography Award mobile photo festival selection (as the top 20 mobile photographers in the world)-2015.
-International Photography Grant- Crisis of Urmia Lake-2017
Exhibition:
-Entrance to the exhibition section of the United Nations Photo Festival of Humanity HPA- China 2013.
-Group Exhibition in Silk Road Gallery-Tehran-Iran-2018.
-Group Exhibition in Hinterland Gallery-Vienna-Austria-2021.