Picture power: A scar on the landscape
- Published
In November, Reuters photographer Nacho Doce flew over the Atibainha dam in Brazil, part of the Cantareira reservoir that supplies the state of Sao Paulo, a region suffering its worst drought in 80 years. He took the picture above, the lakeside almost resembling a screaming face in profile. Here Doce offers his thoughts on the image.
"Words can't express what it feels like to view a landscape as bleak and disturbing as the one in this photo.
"In the four years I've lived in Brazil, I've seen many extraordinary and terrifying things, but the current drought surrounding Sao Paulo for the past nine months surpasses all. Without rain, the reservoirs that provide South America's largest city with water are at their lowest level in decades.
"The World Cup and recent elections managed to distract the attention of the population away from the looming problem. They also seem to have kept the state's institutions busy, with little attention paid to this pending disaster.
"As I rode in the helicopter to take this and other aerial photos, it was only after landing and opening the image on a computer that I noticed the real message - that of a woman in panic, as in Edvard Munch's painting The Scream. For me, this is Mother Nature screaming for help."