In 2007, Gideon Mendel photographed two floods that occurred within weeks of each other, one in the UK and the other in India. He was struck by the contrasting impacts of these floods, and the shared vulnerability that seemed to unite the people he encountered in this landscape.
Since then, he has visited flood zones around the world, witnessing a shared human experience of catastrophe that transcends geographical, cultural and economic divides.
Drowing World includes some of the poorest and wealthiest communities on the planet, all exposed to the floodwater that envelops them. In this moment the floods are a levelling factor, and people are brought together in visual solidarity.