Tears of the Tigris 2024

The Tigris River has always been a conduit for more than water. Along with the Euphrates, it formed the eastern bound of Mesopotamia and irrigated some of the earliest civilisations on earth. For 7000 years, its flooding cycles have created seasons of plenty and scarcity. Political capital flowed up and downstream with the products of the ancient commercial world.

Today, almost 30 million people live in the watershed of the Tigris, but the river now faces existential threats on multiple fronts. Since the 1970s, Turkey has built 16 new dams on the upper reaches, and with another 6 to come, the construction has already reduced the water flow to Iraq. Dams in Iran and inside Iraq too also contribute to a significant change in the waters of the Tigris on its way south.

This project tells the story of the Tigris's uncertain future and places it in the context of modern Iraq and the wider region.

Note: The text above was written by the Artist. No modification was made by COCA.

Emily Garthwaite

United Kingdom

https://www.emilygarthwaite.com

Emily Garthwaite (b. 1993) is a photojournalist, writer and storyteller focusing on environmental and humanitarian stories. Emily’s work weaves together themes of shared humanity, displacement and coexistence with the natural world. She is a Leica Ambassador and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and has a Masters in Documentary Photography and Photojournalism from the University of Westminster.

She has exhibited her work internationally, including at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, EXPO 2020 and Xposure Festival in Dubai, Visa Pour L'image and Palais Royale in France and in the UK, at Leica Mayfair Gallery, South Bank Centre, Somerset House and The Natural History Museum. Her photographs have been published in National Geographic, The New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, Washington Post, Der Speigel, Le Figaro, GEO, among others.