Water scarcity in the Navajo Nation contrasts sharply with that of neighbouring communities. More than one-third of Diné, members of the Navajo Nation, must haul water long distances to their homes. Diné households are 67 times more likely to be without running water than a typical US household, yet they pay the most for what little they use. Just across the state line in Washington County, Utah, the same aquifer is delivered cheaply and reliably which exposes a stark power imbalance. This inequality, set against the American West’s ongoing megadrought, foreshadows wider challenges as global temperatures rise and resources dwindle.

Living between these communities, Ross felt compelled to confront this severe inequality through art. After two years of building relationships and researching the underlying systems, he produced a powerful photographic series that has sparked public debate, promises of legislative reform, and wide engagement which includes a TIME magazine cover story, billboards across Arizona, and plans for a travelling exhibition. As Colorado River Basin states renegotiate water-rights legislation, Ross’s work seeks to change perceptions worldwide and champion sustainable solutions to this critical issue.

Artist Bio:

For the past decade, Elliot Ross’s journalistic and photographic practice has focused on the American West, using the region as a lens to explore how natural and built landscapes shape communities and culture. His projects investigate the effects of geopolitical borders on identity, the urban–rural divide, and our relationships with natural resources. Long-term series such as 'American Backyard' and 'Good Grace' are grounded in close, collaborative relationships with participants, built on trust and openness. Drawing on his mixed Taiwanese-Anglo-American heritage, and a personal search for belonging, Ross uses photography to explore, and at times challenge, our connections to the places we call home and their contested histories. His aim is to foster empathy, bridge understanding, and promote common ground in an era of deep polarisation and ecological collapse.