Wisła - story as long as a river

I’ve been living in London for almost 20 years. In 2021 I decided to quit my job in London and move back to Poland to study photography. Having left my motherland as a very young person, so many years ago, I felt that I really don’t know my country and Poles anymore. It was the first time I lived in Warsaw and on a one warm spring day I decided to go to the river. I could not believe what I saw - everyone was there.

In the summer of 2022, I walked over 40 km of the eastern and western shorelines of the Vistula river in Warsaw, often discovering a wild world hidden right in the centre of the European capital. The "Vistula District", an informal district of Warsaw, is a place where you can meet friends & light a bonfire. It's a city beach! it’s a space for silence and meditation, or a family picnic & contact with nature. It can be a path on which you can cycle to work. It is a democratic common space shared by so many different people & often taken for granted. 

This oasis is at risk, just like any other river in the world. We recently witnessed the collapse of the eco system in the second largest Polish river, Odra. Very low water levels caused by low rainfall, inadequate water over-management, pollution are just a few of the threats that rivers around the world are currently facing. Taking care of this common space shared with nonhuman species and their habitat, is the responsibility of each of us.