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Environment through the lens Photography Exhibition

The Reporter2011/06/08

Death flow, Smoked Bustle, Bloodless Invasion, Lust for Life, Massacred, Doomed, Destitute, Distress and Misery: these words seem to describe a war scene or the aftermath of a war, but these are titles which were given to the newly opened photography exhibition at the National Museum.

The photography exhibition entitled ‘Realize the Pledge’ opened on May 31st at the National Museum and its aim is to mark World Environment Day this week. The photographer, Binyam Mengesha from Glamour Image toured the whole country for nearly seven years and the photographs he captured during his journey depicting the horrific environmental situation of the country.

When one sees the title, an actual war field comes into mind, but for Binyam the war is the devastation that humans are causing on nature.

His pictures also show how man is destroying the environment starting from the simple waste management, the chemicals and pesticides which are released from different factories, affecting the day to day lives of the people.

Some of the cases which caught his attention while he was photographic include the case of Lake Haromaya , which has now dried up. Through his camera, he captured people who were in search of water crossing the once abundant lake, carrying their pots.

“It’s been around eight years since the lake gradually transformed into dry land. I am sure passerby’s wonder what happened to the water,” states Binyam.

Even though the photographer is sad about the situation of Lake Haromaya, when he sees the toxic Addis Ababa’s water and the source of the lakes, it breaks his heart even more and he wishes that water also would vanish like Lake Haromaya.

According to Biniyam, the rivers around Addis Ababa are outlets for factories and toilets and these are the sources which are used for supplying drinking water.

“One of the saddest things for me is, not knowing how clean our drinking water is. Seeing the water bodies of Addis, for example Akaki contains some acid, which comes from factories and toilets. A question comes into mind, how clean is the water?,” explains Binyam.

The photographer also states that the environmental changes have contributed to the misery of shortage of food.

Binyam also tried to show the positive actions people are taking by planting flowers. But some negative publicity arose about how the flowers poison the soil but he says that if there is no direct connection between the soil and the flower no harm will occur.

In his pictures Binyam showed horticulture farms that take care of the environment.

The 120 photos which hang on the wall are accompanied by music entitled ‘Sounds of Nature’. In the sound one can hear birds singing, trees shaking and shouting for help. The exhibition artistically tries to raise awareness among the community.

Even though the photographer started snapping pictures long ago, this actual project only started about two years ago. The photographer states that the main drive for him was his desire to share his experiences with the people.

This exhibition, which asks everyone to take a pledge, will be an annual exhibition with different themes.

“Let’s Save the Planet’ is the general aim and everyone has a stake in this. It starts from the person who is peeing on the street to the person who is planting trees. Every one should take responsibility on their action,” concludes Binyam.

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