Water, for everyone, and for nobody.

Water, for everyone, and for nobody.

What is water really for us, beyond a water resource that ensures life and food production? Do we have another kind of relationship with it or do we only see it as a vital liquid for consumption? In this project, I try to open my senses to explore the vast symbolism that water has in our daily lives and the practices that shape our relationship with all the forms and states in which this vital element manifests, emanates, transforms, and disappears.

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
i

The connection with the memory of water is not to perpetuate its form but to appreciate the ephemerality of its presence and to revalue every form of its existence more than the uses we give it.

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
i

The connection with the memory of water is not to perpetuate its form but to appreciate the ephemerality of its presence and to revalue every form of its existence more than the uses we give it.

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
i

In the Aymara culture, there are legends of warriors who fight against lightning and hail, which often destroy their crops, from the Andean cosmovision it´s considered that water in all its manifestations are living beings that have strength, which are revealed if they are angry and with whom we must dialogue for a life in balance.

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
i

Pollution has become part of the natural landscape, but it is not natural, the natural, health and social consequences and impacts that we suffer because of this, water belongs to everyone, but it does not belong to anyone, water belongs to life itself.

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
i

From my point of view as an Aymara woman, water represents a link with a natural memory with which I live, it´s food and medicine, both physical and spiritual.

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
i

Water is a collective good, which accompanies us in our existence and subsistence, but in reality, it does not belong to us in essence, water flows freely and is only a servant of life, but it is not eternal, therefore we must take care of it and respect it.

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
i

the search for subway treasures has led man to wear down the earth and prevent the free flow of water, polluting it and preventing it from returning.

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
i

Water keeps us in harmony and movement with the cosmos, it flows, nourishes and hydrates this living and natural body that we call Pachamama, -Mother Earth in Aymara-.

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
i

Water being a sacred being for the Andean world is also thanked with offerings "Wajtas" -offerings- in Aymara, to the Pachamama (Mother Earth) commonly performed in sacred and ceremonial places, as in the peaks of the highest mountains of the city, with which they thank her for the rain in times of drought and for not sending hail.

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
i

From the Aymara cosmovision, the water "Uma" is a living being a sacred being therefore we have to take care of it, nurture it, protect it and treat it with respect.

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
i

The lagoons located in ceremonial places in the city of La Paz are considered -protective mothers- "Mama Qutas" in Aymara, they are full of positive energy that represents the blood of nature and protects the territory.

Latest Projects

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Stay in the loop


We will send you weekly news on contemporary photography. You can change your mind at any time. We will treat your data with respect. For more information please visit our privacy policy. By ticking here, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with them. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.