Missing moment

when I was 10, my father was hospitalized due to kidney disease in a hospital in Urmia.

when I was 10, my father was hospitalized due to kidney disease in a hospital in Urmia. At home, in Tabriz city, my mother, my five year old sister and I were waiting for news of father’s recovery. After a few days due to the severity of my father’s illness, my mother took us to Urmia city. At that time the only way of communication between Tabriz city and Urmia was “Urmia lake”. Small passenger ships were means of communication of the lake. In spite of my young age and not having any awareness of the situation, I was full of worries and fears. Stormy weather and the lake being unrest, was making the fear grow in me more and more. Because of the bad weather, the shipping had to be stopped but we arrived on time and we boarded the last ship. We were sitting next to the ship’s window. It was a one hour trip and I was staring out the window the whole time. Feelings of anxiety and fear had given way to peace. A beautiful picture of blue lake and cloudy sky and the rain drops on the window of the ship. A Beautiful moment that I have not forgotten. That image was the most beautiful thing that I saw and felt that day. Unfortunately, it was never repeated. I’ve always been looking for that lost beauty since 2011, the time I started taking pictures of Urmia lake but in all my photos I only witness a salty death. Urmia lake is the world's second largest brine lake which is located in north western Iran and in the region of Azerbaijan and its divided between east Azerbaijan and west Azerbaijan. In 2002, drought began to threaten the Urmia lake and in 2014, the dryness of the lake has been announced to be more than 75%. The reason this drought is not revengeful character of nature but only the nature of human irresponsibility. By well diggings, by buildings dams on rivers that used to pour into the lake, by throwing stones into the depth of lake’s heart, we have narrowed the breathing of the lake. Today, after 18 years, my father is not among us. But Urmia Lake is there.