Poisoned Beauty by Gheorghe Popa

 In 1977, over 400 families living in Geamana village were evacuated so that this place would be turned into a tailings pond for the waste generated by the copper mine. One of the largest gold and copper ores in Europe and the largest copper ore in Romania is located at Roșia Poieni.

I visited Geamana for the first time in 2014. I had heard of this place ever since I was a child, growing up relatively close, approximately one hour and a half away. My first impression was unforgettable. I was and still am flabbergasted. The area where the tailings pond is located is very scenic, being surrounded by beautiful green forests. This place plays with all your senses. The vivid green blends in with these crazy col-ours, and the fresh air you are accustomed to has a chemical scent. I remember that in 2014 I could feel the taste of chemicals in my mouth. At that time, I think that copper extraction was at another level. 

In 2018, after I got the drone I decided to return. I was curious how all this madness looked from above and honestly it was unbelievably beautiful. That’s when I made the first image of the project Poisoned Beauty that I named Poison. I was so pleased with this photo that I made a large 90x60 cm print. The idea of working on this project came to me after I showed the printed photo to several persons. They were all pleased with it and everyone asked: what am I looking at? Of course, I told them the story of the place and I realized that I could draw attention to the ecological disaster by showing the strange beauty of this place.   

In the last two years, I visited Geamana whenever I had the chance and the result is impressive. I realized that these images became a form of artistic protest. These crazy colours and shapes generated by the poison and by nature are irresistible to the view-er’s eye. The collection of images I accumulated in the last two years is impressive even for me.

At this stage of the project, I decided to gradually include nature in these images by progressively showing the scale of this disaster.