Photo Journal Monday: Hashem Shakeri
Helmand town, Sistan and Baluchestan. The kids are playing in the wrecked boats in the Helmand riverbed. © Hashem Shakeri
Images and text by Hashem Shakeri
Photo Edited by Lucia Luzzani
An Elegy for the Death of Hamun
This project is part of a larger trilogy about the three contemporary social issues of the community of Iran, whose initial idea was formed many years ago. This trilogy deals with exile, isolation, bewilderment, self-alienation and social exclusion of a few groups of people in the society of in Iran these days. The people of Sistan and Baluchestan, who once lived together peacefully with the fertile nature and plenty of groundwater and the wetlands of Hamun, are now defeated by its infertility. A variety of plants and animals species have been destroyed by the drying of Hamun wetlands and severe drought, and now from the old green memories there is nothing left but vast and infertile wilderness.
Hossein (Sagheb), 13, is sitting on a cliff at the beach of the Oman Sea, at the port of Beris. © Hashem Shakeri
Until last year, water ran under this dam but now urban sewage runs through it, some teenagers have caught fish from this dirty water. © Hashem Shakeri
As one of the largest province of Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan is located in the southeast of the country and it shares borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan. Once a forest in the distant past and with a history of over 5000 years, it used to be a great source of crops in the country. Now, the province is facing rapid climate change and environmental crisis, which has turned this vast region into an infertile desert. From the northernmost point on the border of this province, which is located in Sistan, to the southernmost lying in Baluchestan, I have travelled for more than hundreds of kilometers and captured the inhabitants who are in harsh situations in this vast province and are struggling with various types of environmental problems ranging from drought, lack or shortage of water to deprivation of health, hygiene and education to the problems such as unemployment, depopulation, poverty, and addiction.
In my first encounter with this exhausted and forgotten land in S&B, I realized that the drying of Lake Hamun caused a deep and direct impact on the lives of the people. They have been mourning the drying of Hamun for years. Wherever I went, they talked about drought and Hamun. They believed that Hamun had taken life away with itself. The place reminded me so much of Waiting for Godot. A people who had a magnificent past waiting for that past to reappear again.
Saravani family have lived in this region more than 100 years. This village, which is now turned into a wilderness, is covered with sands and dusts. Not long ago, it was a village near the river. © Hashem Shakeri
The province is facing rapid climate change and environmental crisis, which has turned this vast region into an infertile desert. © Hashem Shakeri
Drought, unemployment and hopelessness have made over one fourth of the population migrate in recent years.
When I first visited this land, the idea of "lonely human beings" came into my mind. It was about the encounter of lonely people who had been controlled and defeated by this inflexible and infertile nature; the nature that was overused by human beings in the past and was now fruitless. The people who were lonely and carried their dusty memories with themselves impressed me more than anything. For me, it was like traveling to the past. Time had stood still for years, with the difference that everywhere and everything was dry and without feelings.
A lone camel in Negur region, Chaabahar, Balouchestan, pakistan border. Lack of water has had a negative effect on the livestock and camels. © Hashem Shakeri
The river that flew under this bridge was a branch of Helmand river and ran into the Hamun Lake. This region which was full of water in the previous years, is now completely dried. A family is removing soil from the riverbed in order to use for their house garden. © Hashem Shakeri
The seasonal 120-day winds in this region sometimes reach 120 kilometers per hour and due to the dryness of Hamun Lake, they have turned into huge sand storms and haze, influencing the trees in this region. © Hashem Shakeri
Nabi Sarani, 63, is a livestock holder and a farmer, who has lost many of his sheep this year after the severe drought and only these few ones have been left. However, he hopes to return to agriculture by the fresh water he has gained from the well he found. © Hashem Shakeri
