Toxic Delta
The Poisoning of Europe's Largest River Delta
(work in progress)
This project began under the working title Dark Waters (2024), focusing on the factory I grew up near and its deep impact on the living environment of an entire region. Using archival material and recent research, I examined how Chemours (formerly DuPont de Nemours) in Dordrecht transformed from an open and proud employer for the region into a closed fortress through decades of scandals surrounding health, nature and welfare. Combining archival imagery with my own photographs, I created a contrast between the factory as it was in the 1960s, 70s and 80s and how it appears today, alongside images of the surrounding environment. These are presented on a map where the waterways contaminated with PFAS are marked in red.
The project has since expanded beyond Dordrecht to encompass the wider Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta. This delta is home to some of the most densely populated areas in Europe: the Rijnmond region around Rotterdam, the Drechtsteden around Dordrecht, and the Antwerp metropolitan area in Flanders. Millions of people live, work and raise families in direct proximity to one of Europe's largest concentrations of petrochemical industry. The contamination of groundwater and soil in such an environment poses severe risks to public health and ecosystems alike. PFAS compounds, often referred to as "forever chemicals" due to their persistence in the environment, accumulate in soil, migrate through groundwater systems, and enter the food chain. In a delta where water connects everything, contamination does not respect municipal or national borders.
The central question driving this work is how communities and nature coexist in the shadow of Europe's petrochemical industry, and what invisible structures of violence shape this toxic proximity throughout the delta region.
Photographically, the project focuses on the boundary zones where industrial and residential worlds meet: playgrounds overlooking storage tanks, gardens bordering factory fences, dykes that both separate and connect. Through an observational approach, I aim to make visible what often remains unseen.
This project is currently in the preliminary research phase.
The Poisoning of Europe's Largest River Delta
(work in progress)
This project began under the working title Dark Waters (2024), focusing on the factory I grew up near and its deep impact on the living environment of an entire region. Using archival material and recent research, I examined how Chemours (formerly DuPont de Nemours) in Dordrecht transformed from an open and proud employer for the region into a closed fortress through decades of scandals surrounding health, nature and welfare. Combining archival imagery with my own photographs, I created a contrast between the factory as it was in the 1960s, 70s and 80s and how it appears today, alongside images of the surrounding environment. These are presented on a map where the waterways contaminated with PFAS are marked in red.
The project has since expanded beyond Dordrecht to encompass the wider Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta. This delta is home to some of the most densely populated areas in Europe: the Rijnmond region around Rotterdam, the Drechtsteden around Dordrecht, and the Antwerp metropolitan area in Flanders. Millions of people live, work and raise families in direct proximity to one of Europe's largest concentrations of petrochemical industry. The contamination of groundwater and soil in such an environment poses severe risks to public health and ecosystems alike. PFAS compounds, often referred to as "forever chemicals" due to their persistence in the environment, accumulate in soil, migrate through groundwater systems, and enter the food chain. In a delta where water connects everything, contamination does not respect municipal or national borders.
The central question driving this work is how communities and nature coexist in the shadow of Europe's petrochemical industry, and what invisible structures of violence shape this toxic proximity throughout the delta region.
Photographically, the project focuses on the boundary zones where industrial and residential worlds meet: playgrounds overlooking storage tanks, gardens bordering factory fences, dykes that both separate and connect. Through an observational approach, I aim to make visible what often remains unseen.
This project is currently in the preliminary research phase.
