Closed Circuit

I photographed a process without which life in my city (Warsaw) would be impossible. This is the exchange that goes on between the river and the city, the water circulation cycle. We draw water from beneath the Vistula and return it to the river. The relationship between the river and the city is something absolutely fundamental, physical. I wanted to find places that serve this purpose. This is how I discovered the Czajka sewage treatment plant, which is a beautiful structure. I got to know the inside of the Filters – a mysterious, closed area in the centre of Warsaw, built in the 19th century. I photographed water supply devices (because water is drawn from under the bottom of the Vistula) and sewage treatment machinery (because sewage is dumped in the river – until quite recently in its “raw” form, now usually decontaminated). Water from the Vistula is also used by the Siekierki and ?era? power plants (for cooling), which then return it to the river. It is the machinery of the river we try to conceal and not to look at. I think there is a certain beauty to this architecture, these places.