Four Central Asian countries surrounding the Aral Sea remain at the mercy of a water body struggling to deal with the devastating effects of climate change. The crisis, however, extends beyond climate alone, rooted in decades of water mismanagement and the absence of coordinated regional governance over shared river systems. Combining the visual power of her stunning photographs with the art of storytelling, Anush Babajanyan’s After the Aral Sea session during the 10th edition of Xposure 2026 is a vital photo essay focusing on the lives of people living in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

“There is a saying here. They say, the sea is gone, but people remain,” says Babajanyan, who followed shrinking rivers and camped in sub-zero glaciers to trace the Aral Sea’s environmental history through her stark photographs. Through this long-term documentation, she examines not only environmental loss, but the human cost of policy decisions that reshaped the region’s natural balance.

“The Aral Sea has lost 90% of its water since 1960 because of the cotton industry. Changes in climate are affecting glaciers as some glaciers have lost one kilometre in the last 60 years. The River Zarafshan has turned into a small stream. When the waters retreated, they left behind vast salt plains, making it difficult to grow plants in this soil,” says the National Geographic Explorer, underscoring how upstream control of water resources and the lack of coordination following the collapse of the Soviet Union intensified pressure on downstream communities, as she shared visual testimonies depicting how people inhabiting these regions continue to survive.

Families herd camels across salt plains, scientists experiment with planting salt-resistant crops, even as fishermen return to the revived waters of the Northern Aral as a means of survival. These scenes reveal a daily reality shaped by scarcity, adaptation, and resilience, where communities are forced to rethink livelihoods once tied directly to the sea.

“People living in this region have lived here for thousands of years, when there was no industry, when they were not even fishing. They know how to live in any state and this is why they are not going anywhere — they know how to survive here,”

Babajanyan concludes on a positive note, reinforcing the resilience of the people of this region. Her work serves as a visual warning of how fragile ecosystems can collapse under poor resource management, and how similar crises could unfold elsewhere if climate change and water mismanagement remain unaddressed.

Featuring a packed programme of seminars, workshops and portfolio reviews, Sharjah’s premier photography festival, held under the theme “A Decade of Visual Storytelling”, brings together world-renowned photographers with professionals and enthusiasts for an international gathering of more than 420 photographers, filmmakers, and visual artists from across 60 countries.