Documentary project – Modern-day pirates

Hungary's second largest river, the Tisza, crosses five countries on its way to the Black Sea. Crystal clear at its source, it grows heavily polluted along the way – mostly with household waste from the Ukrainian side, which then washes up in Hungary. Ten years ago a handful of volunteers began collecting the rubbish carried downstream. Today several hundred people take part in the PET cups.

The participants of the camp – or PET pirates, as they call themselves – form teams and compete to collect the most waste. The five to ten day actions are held several times a year on the Upper Tisza, Lake Tisza and the Bodrog. They paddle in canoes and in PET boats they build themselves. Instead of treasure, these pirates hunt for plastic bottles and other waste, which they then carefully sort.

It is Sisyphean work: the stretch they clear is polluted again by the next flood. With this series I want to show their struggle.