News item | 17-11-2022 | 14:53
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Water=Life photo competition was won by Tomislav Georgiev from North Macedonia. His photograph in dramatic black and white shows a man clearing weeds and rubbish from the bottom of the Crn Drim River in North Macedonia.
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147 photographers from all over the world entered the Water=Life photo competition. The winning photo by Tomislav Georgiev, together with other photos from the competition, will be on display next year in a traveling exhibition organized by the embassies of the Netherlands worldwide. Georgiev’s winning photo shows a man removing plants and waste, such as plastic, from the water in the river.
Georgiev has been a professional photographer for 24 years. He works for newspapers and NGOs such as Unicef, photographing news as well as other subjects. With this photo, Georgiev wants to call for action, he says by telephone from Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia.
‘The River Crn Drim is one of the longest in the Balkans. It rises in Lake Ohrid, the oldest lake in the Balkans, and flows 149 kilometers through North Macedonia to Albania. It is the only outflow river of Lake Ohrid. In recent years, this river has become increasingly polluted. Biodiversity is declining due to water pollution. Special fish and plants are disappearing.’
UNESCO World Heritage
Lake Ohrid and its surroundings are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and UNESCO is considering declaring it a World Heritage in Danger. That decision will be made in 2023. Environmental groups from North Macedonia and Albania are urging UNESCO to do so, as reclassifying Ohrid as one of the endangered World Heritage Sites would put more pressure on North Macedonia and Albania to work on the issues.
With his photo, Georgiev wanted to call for action to protect this river, but also for action in general. ‘If you see how fast climate change is going now, we should not intervene today, but yesterday. I have read many UN reports about how fast climate change is going. That things happen that were not expected until 2030. But we also notice it in the Balkans. Especially because of the huge rain showers that we sometimes have. At the same time, there is also a drought this year. The level of the river Crn Drim was very low.’
Grandeur of nature
Georgiev is happy with the victory in the photo competition of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ‘It’s a huge honor to be chosen from such a large group of photos from all over the world. This photo evokes strong reactions, I noticed when I posted it on Facebook not long after I took it. It is an abstract, almost graphic picture. The perspective and the black and white enhance the effect.’
‘Man is so insignificant against the power of the water, against the overwhelming grandeur of nature. I wanted to show that. We must act if we don’t want to perish as humanity.’ Nathalie Olijslager, program director of the UN Water Conference 2023, called Georgiev’s photo in the jury report a ‘photo that leaves you in awe.’