Anush Babajanyan: The Aral Sea and the Battered Waters of Central Asia

From the early 1960s onwards, intensive irrigation along the banks of rivers in the Soviet Union have led to a devastating natural disaster: the Aral Sea, once the world’s fourth-largest inland lake, has dried up almost completely. However, even today it is of great importance to those people who have chosen to remain in the area, and try to rebuild their lives in the face of the resulting water shortage.

The body of water has all but disappeared. Slowly but surely, the Aral Sea has receded. With a former surface of 70,000 square metres, in recent decades, it has shrunk by 90 percent. It is known as the Silent Chernobyl, because its gradual demise is slow and silent, and is one of the largest, man-made environmental catastrophes in the world. It was once the fourth largest inland lake on the planet; now it has almost been wiped off the map. It has changed colour like a chameleon – what was once blue is now yellow, what was once water is now desert. “People still remember its reality: the rich livelihoods it supported and the way the sea sustained communities,” Babajanyan reports. “While that reality has changed dramatically, people across the region are working hard to adapt and build new lives under very different circumstances.”

Babajanyan’s The Aral Sea and the Battered Waters of Central Asia series, speaks of life that has not disappeared, but that evolves; of how people and communities make every effort to adapt, to develop further and find harmony with their new natural surroundings. As the saying goes, “life takes detours,” and so the people of Central Asia are seeking alternate avenues and paths that promise a new future: they breed camels, harvest brine shrimp, keep bees and are once again fishing in the Northern Aral Sea, which has been revitalised following the construction of the Kokaral Dam. From 2019 to 2025, the photographer visited the area around the Aral Sea regularly; she travelled to Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and met people who shared insights into their lives with her. “I have always approached photography as an opportunity to learn from the people I photograph, to understand their stories and do my best to visualize them,” she says. “My experiences in Central Asia have been varied, but the warmth and hospitality of the region have made this work possible and opened many doors.”

Her travels produced both landscape images as well as portraits: together they reflect the history of the Aral Sea, offering information about the past and the present, describing the loss and the hope. Using soft lighting and pastel colours, her pictures capture the atmosphere of a region defined by tradition and religion, and steeped in myths and fairytales. They combine influences from Ancient Persia, the shamanic legacy of the Steppe peoples and Islamic culture, whilst speaking of the struggle between good and evil. All that remains today of the Aral Sea’s former glory are the rusting hulls of ships in the desert – a symbol of how nature has been treated and the consequent human tragedy. 

Anush Babajanyan’s series was submitted by Carla Rosorius, who is part of this year’s group of international LOBA nominators.