Giver and taker of life; essential element of all existence and untameable destroyer; spiritual expression of purity and contaminated purveyor of affliction; bringer of blessings and of tragedy; agent of social, economic and political discord. Water is all of these things - and abundantly so in the great deltas of South and Southeast Asia, the focus of this troubling but pertinent study.

Daniel Schwartz's photographs show the reality of life - and death - in this impoverished yet immensely resourceful part of the world. Supporting Schwartz's poignant images are documents, drawn from a wide range of authoritative sources, throwing light on a region of enormous untapped potential. Shaking off a long history of isolation, obscurity and conflict, this is an area whose time has finally come. Statements of reality, direct and unadorned, these photographs are a declaration of hope for the deltas.