Toxic colors in this unforgotten village

I went to photograph Geamăna, a place unlike anywhere else in Romania. It’s a flooded village in the Apuseni Mountains, where only the church tower still rises above the surface. The rest lies beneath a toxic lake created by mining waste from nearby Roșia Poieni.

The colors were surreal... shades of turquoise, rust, yellow and milky white swirling together in strange patterns. Beautiful in a way, but heavy too, knowing what’s hidden underneath. I spent hours walking along the edges, trying to capture both the eerie calm and the powerful contrast between nature and what’s left of the village.