Emily Garthwaite, Tears of the Tigris
Born in 1993, the British photojournalist and her series follow the 1900 kilometres of the River Tigris – from its source in Turkey all the way to its mouth in Iraq. Garthwaite examines political loyalties, ethnic ties, national borders and the changing geography. The river is on the brink of an environmental disaster, affecting roughly 30 million people who live in the river’s catchment area, and threatening the region’s cultural heritage.
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20 Images
01
Central Bank of Iraq, designed by architect Zaha Hadid, on the banks of the Tigris River in Baghdad, estimated costs $772 million, 2022
02
Along a Shatt al-Arab river canal in Abu al-Khaseeb, a young boy collects reeds for his family’s livestock at dusk, 2024
03
Four sisters plait each other’s hair in the town of Kut, 2021
04
Toxic waste at a petroleum-derived pitch factory, lies on the banks of the Tigris beside a brick factory in Maysan, 2021
05
Newly-built accommodation for oil workers on a former date palm farm land in Baghdad, 2022
06
A farmer walks on the dried earth beside the Diyala River, whose poisoned water he can no longer give to his animals, 2021
07
Hajer, a celebrated women’s rights activist, stands under a date palm in Tikrit, 2023
08
A traditional mudhif, or thatched reed hut, built by Hashd forces on the banks of the Tigris in Samarra, 2021
09
Abu Eisa’s daughter outside their family home in the Hawizeh Marshes. In the background, the gas burn-off lights the night sky, 2021
10
An endangered soft-shell turtle lies dead on the banks of the Tigris River after being trapped in a fisherman’s net, 2023
11
Bassam al-Sheikh, an environmental activist, stands among reed beds on the banks of the Tigris River in Mosul, 2023
12
In the Hawizeh Marshes the water was once several meters high. Today, boats regularly get stuck, churning up the sewage-infused silt, 2023
13
A sulphur spring tributary feeds into the Tigris River in the city of Mosul, 2023
14
A toxic river canal in Jaykur village remains stagnant along the Shatt al-Arab River, after the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers meet, 2023
15
In the summer months, temperatures reach upwards of 50 °C. Shepherds bathe their flock in the warm waters of the Tigris to cool them down, 2021
16
A banquet in a village close to the course of the ancient Tigris in the fertile crescent between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, 2021
17
Women gather for a picnic on the banks of the Tigris in the city of Tikrit, 2023
18
Fares pulls back the curtains of his palace in Tikrit, where every window faces the Tigris, 2023
19
A resident in al-Huwair navigates a traditional Iraqi boat, known as a tarada, out of a Tigris River canal, 2021
20
Girls walk through their family farm in Abu al-Khaseeb, a village affected by decades of conflict and now by climate change, 2023
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