Alina Schmuch: Mouth of the Waterway

In her artist’s book Mouth of the Waterway, Alina Schmuch explores the hidden infrastructures of water and their relationship to photographic images. The project begins with an artistic investigation into canal systems, waterways, and the largely invisible networks that run through our cities and landscapes.

The book is based on a remounting of historical photographs from the archive of the Emschergenossenschaft and traces how industrial interventions—particularly mining and wastewater management—have fundamentally reshaped the landscape of the Ruhr region. Moving between documentation, visual essay, and critical reflection, the project reveals a landscape that can no longer be understood as “nature,” but rather as a permanently engineered environment shaped by technical infrastructures.

Mouth of the Waterway asks how photography can render such hidden spaces visible and what role images play in grasping the complex infrastructures that shape our environment in the Anthropocene.