GEAMĂNA
A Village Lost to Copper
“Is it because we had no faith that you have left us in a grave and condemned our holy city to perish and sink deep into the ground?”
— Nicolae Prața
GEAMĂNA
A Village Lost to Copper
PERSONAL PROJECT | 2026
Project Description. Until 1978, Geamăna was a peaceful little village in one of the many valleys of the Apuseni Mountains in Romania. The year 1978 proved to be the beginning of a disaster for the village. Rich copper deposits were discovered in the nearby mountains, and their extraction produced enormous quantities of toxic waste that had to be disposed of. Because this copper mine—Roșia Poieni—was a prestige project for the communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, and he viewed Geamăna as the ideal location to store this toxic waste, he ordered the village to be evacuated and the entire valley to be dammed. The residents were expropriated, and most of them moved to other villages in the area in the early 1980s. Starting in 1986, the dumping of the chemical sludge actually began, and it continues to this day.
For a long time, the tower of the church in Geamăna, situated on higher ground, remained visible above the silt, but it, too, has since disappeared beneath the water. A few stubborn villagers held out on the edges of the flooded area for a long time, until their homes, too, were swallowed up by the ever-rising water.
The Roșia Poieni copper mine still holds the third-largest copper reserves in Europe.
In addition to the landscape photographs, which showcase the intriguing colors and patterns of the chemical sludge, this project also seeks to give a face to the story described above.
Historical photos of the former village of Geamăna
Background and Recommendations.
It’s easy to head to the Geamăna Valley, fly your drone, and be captivated by the many fantastic colors and patterns you can photograph. A landscape photographer who loves abstraction will find this place a true delight. The fact that the colors and patterns are caused by toxic chemicals gives the photos a documentary feel and, in a sense, elevates the photographer’s work to a higher level. But this is a very one-sided approach, and the story of Geamăna deserves so much more than that. Beneath this polluted water, an entire village community lies buried—literally. To do justice to this tragic story, I recommend that, before visiting Geamăna, you at least familiarize yourself with this disastrous history and, if possible, watch the 2024 documentary *Where We Used to Sleep* by Matthäus Wörle, which deeply moved me.
“Where We Used to Sleep”
This documentary introduces us to Valeria Prața at her farm—which was relatively high up at the time—where she lived with her late husband, Nicolae Prața, and their children. Nicolae and Valeria refused to leave because the compensation offered for the expropriation was a pittance, just as it was for the more than 1,000 original residents of Geamăna. Nicolae Prața devoted a large part of his life to fighting the injustice done to these residents. As the water keeps rising—and is now just seven steps away from her home—Valeria must part with her beloved cow, Păuna, and it is finally time to leave.
Note: Valeria Prața passed away in 2023, before the documentary was released.