Lyrical images of the Caspian Sea show a natural treasure in peril

In a new book, photographer Khashayar Javanmardi returns to the once-abundant Iranian shores on which he grew up

In a new book, photographer Khashayar Javanmardi returns to the once-abundant Iranian shores on which he grew up
Photography by Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose Joints

Bounded by Iran to the south, Russia to the north, Azerbaijan to the west, and Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to the east, the Caspian Sea is the world’s largest enclosed body of water. Every year, those states dump about 122,000 tons of pollutants — including oil and sewage — into the once-abundant lake, devastating local ecology and eroding the livelihoods of long-established communities.

Having spent his childhood on the Iranian shores of the Caspian, Switzerland-based photographer Khashayar Javanmardi has seen those events play out firsthand — an experience that forms the foundation of his new book Caspian: A Southern Reflection. As the first part of an ongoing project based in the region, Javanmardi presents readers with an intimate and atmospheric collection of images that eloquently convey the urgency of an environmental disaster that has been unfolding for decades.

Caspian: A Southern Reflection by Khashayar Javanmardi is published by Loose Joints.

A train crosses a bridge over dry sea bed of the Caspian Sea, with a wind farm in the distance
Photography by Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose Joints
Muslim women dressed all in black and wearing face masks stand with raised arms on a hill above a river in Iran
Photography by Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose Joints
A young man sits on a stool in a child's bedroom smoking from a pipe and drinking coffee
Photography by Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose Joints
Abandoned and rusting fishing boats piled against the shore of the Caspian Sea in Iran
Photography by Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose Joints
In a new book, photographer Khashayar Javanmardi returns to the once-abundant Iranian shores on which he grew up
Photography by Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose Joints
In a new book, photographer Khashayar Javanmardi returns to the once-abundant Iranian shores on which he grew up
Photography by Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose Joints
In a new book, photographer Khashayar Javanmardi returns to the once-abundant Iranian shores on which he grew up
Photography by Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose Joints
In a new book, photographer Khashayar Javanmardi returns to the once-abundant Iranian shores on which he grew up
Photography by Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose Joints
In a new book, photographer Khashayar Javanmardi returns to the once-abundant Iranian shores on which he grew up
Photography by Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose Joints
In a new book, photographer Khashayar Javanmardi returns to the once-abundant Iranian shores on which he grew up
Photography by Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose Joints
In a new book, photographer Khashayar Javanmardi returns to the once-abundant Iranian shores on which he grew up
Photography by Khashayar Javanmardi 2024 courtesy Loose Joints

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