High Water Mark

Photographer Gideon Mendel's "Drowning World" project documents the personal stories of flood victims

Floods,in various mythological narratives across the world,denote the depths of the sinful state of mankind. When London-based photographer Gideon Mendel waded through waist-level waters in the flood-hit village of Mohammadpur,Bihar,in 2007,he was reminded of the powerful symbology of the natural calamity in Indian mythology. The same year,he took on the vengeful floods with his camera in a village called Toll Bar near Doncaster in the UK.

The following years saw the 53-year-old in country after country,waist down in the waters,as he went about shooting a series of portraits of individuals and families,their gaze directly at the camera as they stood in front of the landscape of their own personal calamity. It started as a project to visually address the threat of climate change. As I went on,it also became a powerful symbol and metaphor of the Great Flood, says Mendel.

Mendels project is called the Drowning World and currently contains about 50 portraits from eight countries. Scientists have been predicting that man-made climate change will cause extreme weather events. This sort of flooding,could become more frequent in the coming years. I believe that it is important to make work that depicts the individuality of the victims of climate change, he says.

Photographs from the Drowning Project have been exhibited across the world since 2010. Mendel mostly uses old Rolleiflex cameras which have fallen into the water many times,resulting in images with reddish sparks as if the world were being seen from underwater and also allows himself the liberty of Instagram.

Mendels works also include video footage,such as When the Floods Came,shot in Pakistan and Australia,and Living with Floodwaters,which was shot in Bangkok. Mendel intends to make a book and exhibit his entire collection by 2015. Thats the year that many believe will be the last-chance moment. Without significant agreements about reducing carbon-dioxide emissions,it would soon be too late to save the world, says Mendel,as he packs his camera bag for Uttarakhand.

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