Along the River Tigris by Mehmet Masum
Captured along the banks of the Tigris River, this poignant image documents the ancient town of Hasankeyf, a site of immense historical significance currently threatened by the Ilisu Dam project. Utilizing a wide 17mm focal length, the photographer frames the rugged landscape to emphasize the fragile intersection of nature and human heritage. The composition serves as a visual protest, highlighting the thousands of historical caves and cultural landmarks destined to be submerged. This photograph is award-worthy for its ability to transform a pressing environmental and political crisis into a hauntingly beautiful, urgent narrative that demands global attention.
Sandeep Chandra
Sandeep Chandra born and bought up in Bangalore. He has done his BE & currently working as a Software Engineer in a one of the IT firm in Bangalore. He loves making friends,love to travel. He wishs to travel around the world.His passion is Photography, he feels Photography is an expressive form of art that consists of different forms, it’s also technical in the sense that setting up the camera and recording medium to take images in a controlled way. In addition, photography is creative, it’s the art of composing good images to capture. Most of his current photography work is around nature, wildlife, Landscape, Portrait, and also do lot of experiments on still photography. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="145"]Sandeep Chandra[/caption] Camera Gear: Canon EOS 550D, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens, Canon EF-S 18-55/3.5-5.6 Lens, Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS
Resonance Score Breakdown
Transparency Note: The resonance score (13.9/20) is calculated based on social engagement metrics collected before the award announcement.
Expert Photography Reviews · 4
What the Water Remembers
There is a weight to things that are about to vanish. We walk past stone and soil, assuming they are permanent, as if the earth itself were a promise kept. But memory is a thin layer.
Read the reflection →The Weight of What Remains
I spent this morning clearing out a box of old letters I had tucked away in the back of my closet. Some were from people I haven't spoken to in years, others were just grocery lists and scribbled notes from a life I barely recognize anymore.
Read the reflection →Reviews & Comments
Share your thoughts about this award-winning photograph. Your reviews contribute to the community engagement score.
The river holds its breath. The stone caves watch the water rise. It’s a quiet erasure. I feel a sudden, cold ache in my chest looking at these cliffs. They’ve been carved by time, not just by hands. The vast, pale sky isn’t a void. It’s a weight. Nothing here is accidental. The empty corner is not empty. It’s the sound of a history waiting to be drowned. Silence is the loudest protest.
Most entries in this category rely on sentimental sunsets to evoke history. Masum avoids that trap. By using a 17mm lens to stretch the Tigris against those hollowed-out caves, he forces us to confront the scale of what we’re losing. It’s a cold, sharp reminder of impending erasure. Looking at these cliffs, I feel a genuine ache for a world being drowned for progress. It’s not just a landscape; it’s a final, desperate inventory of ghosts.
Hasankeyf doesn’t merely exist here; it waits for the water. The shadows clinging to those ancient, hollowed caves aren’t just absences of light—they’re the weight of history refusing to be erased by a dam. I’ve stared at these jagged cliffs until my eyes ache, feeling the cold, impending silence of the rising river. It’s a brutal, necessary darkness. Masum understands that when we drown the past, we’re really just drowning ourselves in the dark.
1/1250sec at f/2.8, 17mm, ISO 400. Wide open on a Tamron 17-50mm at 17mm is a gamble with corner sharpness. You’ve traded depth for speed, likely to freeze the river’s movement. It’s a sharp, calculated risk. I’ve spent years analyzing Hasankeyf’s ruins, and this technical precision actually hurts to look at. It’s too clinical for a place about to vanish. You nailed the exposure, but the optics feel cold. It’s technically sound, yet utterly devastating.