A water superpower runs dry
In 2022 the photographer András Zoltai flew back home to Hungary from India, where he had made a reportage about the people living on, near, and off the Brahmaputra River. His affinity for this landscape had perhaps stemmed his youth, which had also been dominated by a river: the Tisza, Hungary’s second-largest river. Zoltai’s life had been shaped by its presence, and by the thermal springs in the area — as many as 35 near his hometown of Szentes.
Hungary, nestled in the semicircle of the Carpathian Mountains, had always been a water superpower, with resources unique both in quantity and quality. But two centuries of regulating once-meandering rivers, of replacing natural floodplains of rivers with arable lands, of building canals to irrigate these areas — would paradoxically cut some inhabitants off from water and dry up the rest of the soil. In this century, desertification threatens large parts of Hungary’s agricultural lands. The familar green Hungary of rich forests, farmers in the fields and the mighty Danube — doesn’t seem itself anymore. In 2022, almost half as much rainwater fell as usual.
The water level of the Danube is low enough for boys in Budapest to play in the middle of the river. 
Ladies bathe at their favorite bay on the shores of Lake Balaton. Hungary’s largest lake has also been hit by extremely dry weather. In a heatwave, up to six million cubic meters of water per day can evaporate from the lake. In the worst-case scenario, Lake Balaton could become unsuitable for bathing by 2035 and fully dry up by 2050. 
Children jump from a new riverbed at a dredged part of the Danube, near the village of Jászszentláslzló. the river had to be dredged due to low water levels. 
Szilard Zerinváry. a horse-riding instructor and shepherd in the district of Kiskunmajsa, watches his animals at his last remaining artificial pond. 
Engagement photoshoot at the dried-up lake Vekeri. The couple is holding the ultrasound scan of their future baby. 
An old man bathes in a disused thermal spring near the village of Törtel. It was discovered by accident during the drilling of an oil well in the 1960s. Locals have been using it for bathing ever since. 
New sandbanks appear along the Danube, near the city of Baja. 
A half-burnt tree near the village of Táborfalva remained from the devastating forest fire of late summer 2022. In total, around 2800 hectares of land were burnt. 
Shepherd Szabolcs Tóth sits at his farm house in a heatwave. He struggles with water shortages and drought in the southern part of the Great Hungarian Plain. 
Water surplus in the flood-plain forest of the Tisza River during the winter flood. 
László Kulcsár prepares food for his horses, near the town of Kunszentmiklós. Fields were not mowable in 2022 due to early drought. 
The aftermath of a reed fire fire the village of Kiskundorozsma. 
A car wreck left in a withered sunflower field near Tiszaföldvár.
Zoltai had always assumed there was plenty of water. But there isn’t. He realized that maybe he shouldn’t look at rivers in India, but turn toward his own backyard. He travelled on to Szentes, on the left bank of the Tisza, and began to investigate the shortages arising from the decrease in rainfall and from the human interventions in the water supply (dams, basins and other agricultural regulations). He crossed the Great Hungarian Plain, which covers most of Hungary, and met with people who have no access to tap water. He witnessed the overuse of water for large-scale agriculture, the management of Lake Balaton and the consequences of river regulation. More crop cultivation leads to higher water use, which leads to desertification. Large-scale farmers don’t care much; they drain the basins with large irrigation systems. But small farmers suffer.
Hungarians have always lived with water — in streams, ponds, swamps, waterfalls. Zoltai daydreams about that landscape from his youth, and fears the memories will be lost.
His series, Blue Memoir, brings to life the visible and invisible presence of water, and the changes that arise from its absence. He connects easily with people: one referred him to another, which led to many unexpected encounters with Hungarians who still have a deep connection to water. It struck him how much people can open up to an involved outsider, and tell him things they’d never discuss with neighbors, family, friends. There’s no end to this project. Not everyone finds their story to tell, so he is happy he has found his.
The masterclass András Zoltai followed was part of the visual storytelling mentoring program and exhibition Visualising Climate Crisis, by the NOOR Foundation, of which his mentor Kadir van Lohuizen is co-founder.