WATER & POWER: A GLOBAL EMPIRE OF THIRST

Water is the ideal form of power - fluid, adaptable, and persistent,
able to wear down even the hardest stone through patience and flow.
- After Laozi in the Tao Te Ching

For over 45 years through documentary projects spanning six continents, Dawson and Ellen Manchester have examined and photographed the complex relationship between humanity and water. The work began in the American West and later to sites throughout the world. Their work explores people's desire to possess, control, and shape nature to our perceived needs Through the process of doing this work together they learned that water serves as a metaphor that teaches us about the nature of power—its ability to create, inspire, and sustain, but also, if left unchecked, to destroy communities.

Building on their years of photographing water issues in the American West, Dawson and Manchester traveled to Vietnam and Cambodia to look at the legacy of the war and the effects of the ongoing destruction of protective mangrove forests on local communities. In India, Dawson documented the forced relocation of local residents due to the rising waters of a nearby dam on the Narmada River. In Iceland they visited a controversial dam project that destroyed about 3% of Iceland’s total land mass, formerly one of the largest unspoiled wilderness areas in Europe. It provided power solely for the production and export of aluminum. In northern Mexico they photographed how the Colorado River completely dried up due to oversubscription of the river upstream in the US. And along Guatemala's Chixoy River Dawson documented the aftermath of a massacre and the Mayan indigenous communities continuing battle for water rights. Their work underscores how water disputes symbolize broader struggles over power, control, economics, and survival - issues that transcend borders and impact communities worldwide.

Civilizations have risen and fallen based on their ability to manage water resources. From ancient irrigation systems of Mesopotamia to modern battles over water rights in the American West, the control of water has dramatically shaped human life. Today, in an era of climate change, rapid urbanization, and increasing water scarcity, the environmental and social challenges of water management are more urgent than ever. By documenting these struggles, Dawson and Manchester challenge viewers to recognize that water is not just a resource, it is a fundamental human right. Their work asks who benefits from the abundance of water, and who suffers from its absence. As we confront these challenges, how we manage our vital natural resources will reflect on the future of our shared world.

Historian Donald Worster wrote: “Water in our present economy has no intrinsic value, no integrity that must be respected…It has now become a commodity that is bought and sold and used to make other commodities…All mystery disappears from its depth, all gods depart, all contemplation of its flow ceases…And in that new language of market calculation lies an assertion of ultimate power over nature.”