The shores of Lake Van are rapidly turning into a dumping ground, with pollution increasing at an alarming pace. The contamination in the lake has reached critical levels. While industrial activities and biological waste are introducing harmful substances into the water, household waste is invading the shoreline. As a result, the growing pollution is increasingly threatening both the lake itself and the biodiversity around it.

The lake, which holds great economic and socio-cultural importance for the region, has also been visibly receding in recent years. This retreat exposes the lakebed and surrounding areas, bringing to light the pollution caused by human activity. Environmental degradation threatens not only Lake Van but also life throughout its basin.

Birds and Things was carried out along just a two-kilometer stretch of Lake Van’s shoreline. Developed over nearly two years, the project aims to reveal the scale and impact of pollution within this tiny portion of the lake’s 430-kilometer-long shoreline.