With Blue Memoir, my intention is to create a series of photographs, an intuitive, multi-layered visual essay contemplating how Hungarian people relate to water and examine its isolation on a physical, social, and spiritual level. Hungary is considered a water superpower, with water resources unique both in quantity and quality in the Carpathian Basin. On the other hand, Hungary has been experiencing unprecedented droughts, extreme weather events, aridity, and water scarcity in recent years. The question emerges: how is it possible that in Hungary there is a lot of water and not enough at the same time?

Over the last 200 years our meandering rivers have been intensively regulated. Wetlands have been drained at the altar of industrialisation and intensive agriculture. Natural floodplains of rivers were replaced by arable lands and a network of canals to irrigate these areas, cutting people off from water, and drying up the country in a few decades. Isolation from water is a consequence of short-sighted water management, which caused a systemic crisis between the fundamental functioning of nature and industrial reality. This narrative explores the possibility that climate change is just part of the problem. By properly managing our water resources, we could alleviate the effects of climate change and achieve inclusion and water equity.

We take our relationship with water for granted, but to what extent are we vulnerable to the changes that are taking place around us?