Travel Photography Scholarship to South Africa (18-25 JAN 2012)

My Photo scholarship 2011 entry

INDONESIA | Sunday, 6 November 2011 | Views [8302] | Comments [8]

So long as the miners toil away in Kawah Ijen, they all share the same hope: that this will allow them to provide a better life for their families and spare their sons from having to follow in their footsteps. They cling to this hope and can glimpse the light at the end of the tunnel but it seems always out of reach – or is it just the glow of sulfur?

Comments

1

Your story is beautiful for its emotional veracity and strength. I believe it's a good time for observers to make a way for these hard working men to receiver gas masks. Any ideas, anyone?

Carl Gregory Dec 2, 2011 1:39 AM

2

Thank you Carl, it was a very memorable experience, having spent 4 nights with the miners at the top of the crater..It was really ironic to witness how technology has shunned this inferno where the loss of a human life matters less than the loss of a truck or horse along the way. I wish the Chinese company they work for, can actually attend to their basic demands, of getting gas masks or shoulder support bars that would make their daily tasks less risky!!! That's the unequal division of labor in our modern-day where the world nations’ industrial development rested on the exploitation of man by his fellow man...

Walid Rashid Dec 2, 2011 1:49 AM

3

Walid,

Firstly congratulations for winning the scholarship! I look forward to see more of your work in the future.
Secondly, you captured the story of Kawah Ijen beautifully and honestly. It's a joy to look through your photo essay, no doubt you will produce more beautiful work and tell more stories in the coming years. Wish you all the best in this photography journey you're about to embark :)

Cindy Clarissa Dec 2, 2011 8:28 PM

4

ironically, exploitation of fellow man in a violation on one's own being. 'do unto others as you would have them do to you'' is a realization of love. Someone not knowing love doesn't share it, or maybe commits a very sad transgression if they do know and won't share. Something as simple as gas masks and shoulder bars. It would probably even help them work better, more efficiently. I could go on and on about this love topic. I hope there is a change for these men working so hard for their loved ones. I hope your story keeps winning.

Carl Gregory Dec 3, 2011 3:49 AM

5

Congratulations Walid!

You're a very good story teller. Keep taking photographs and sharing more stories.

Good wishes for your South Africa journey :) !

Regards,
Udayan

udayan Dec 5, 2011 12:13 AM

6

Congratulations and all the best.
Best wishes
Deepak

Deepak Vijaya Kumar Dec 17, 2011 3:55 PM

7

This story really touched home for me because my grandfather worked in the coal mines of England and died in his early 60s after suffering for many years with Black Lung. I also have an elder friend who was taken prisoner by Russians in WWII and forced to work in a Siberian mine for 7 years as slave labor. The ordeals we force upon our fellow human beings is mind boggling. I hope your work can bring some light into the darkness. Good luck in your photographic career.

Jennifer Crites Dec 5, 2012 10:03 AM