2nd Place winner
Lake Geamana
DESCRIPTION
Hidden in the Apuseni Mountains of Romania, Lake Geamana is a surreal, otherworldly place where toxic mining waste turned a once-thriving village into a drowned, colorful ghost town. What now looks like abstract art from nature – vivid oranges, reds, and silvers swirling on the water's surface – is the result of years of copper mining. The spire of a flooded church still rises above the poisoned lake, a haunting reminder of the cost of industrial progress. 