Low Water Commons observes the temporary territories that emerge along the Yangtze River in Chongqing, China, as water levels recede. Neither planned nor formally designated as public space, these exposed banks, islands and paths are gradually occupied by fishermen, walkers and small groups of people.

Photographed from a distance, the individual remains small within a landscape shaped by water, infrastructure and the expanding city. Yet it is precisely this human presence that transforms residual ground into a shared territory.

Bridges, towers and other large-scale structures appear as fragments, reflections or distant backdrops, while everyday activity unfolds below them. The photographs focus on this shifting relationship between monumental infrastructure and informal occupation, between what is designed and what simply becomes possible.

These commons are provisional. They exist only for as long as the water allows them to.

Manuel Álvarez Diestro (MAD)