Spirit of a Polluted Spring: Inventive Protest Highlights Native Environmental Disaster – Design You Belief — Design Each day Since 2007

Anastasia Malinovskaya

In early June 2024, activists in Ulyanovsk, a traditionally vital Russian metropolis on the Volga River identified for being the birthplace of Lenin and its function in Russian historical past, raised alarms concerning the Marishkin spring, a cherished pure website that had deteriorated right into a swamp as a consequence of unlawful dumping.

Photographer Anastasia Malinovskaya and ecologist Ekaterina Isakova responded with a creative protest, utilizing symbolic imagery to focus on the environmental disaster. Their mission aimed to attract consideration to broader ecological points in Ulyanovsk, together with deforestation and waste administration challenges.

“I wanted to create the image of an abandoned, sorrowful spirit of the spring, with a twist of gas masks on the chest, symbolizing suffocation in the swamp. As a photographer and creative person, it’s important for me not only to create beautiful images but also to make a positive impact. In the future, I’d love to photograph for animal shelters or nursing homes,” – Anastasia Malinovskaya.

Anastasia Malinovskaya