Thursday, 15 September 2011

A Chance Encounter ? A Symbol of Technology Gone Wrong ...

In the realm of environmental issues such as climate change and freshwater, high tech trash, or e-waste, might seem to be a minor problem. After all, isn?t technology and computers a good thing that connects people from around the world? And doesn?t e-waste give recycling a bad name? Perhaps the answer is yes to both questions, but e-waste is still a compelling and important issue, at least in my opinion.

The main talking points related to high tech trash are first that we are generating a lot of it these days. Every computer, cell phone, VCR or other electronic gadget that was once a marvel but is now a clunker must end up somewhere. A lot of us simply put them away in the attic either because we don?t know what to do with them or they contain important personal information on a hard drive. It turns out that this isn?t a good thing to do, because these devices contains valuable metals and plastics that should be recycled rather than be mined anew. The second main point is that of the e-waste that does make it to e-waste recyclers, many are not responsible and send the less valuable items to poor countries rather than recycling on site. In countries such as Ghana, China or Pakistan workers pick apart e-waste in unsafe and often environmentally unfriendly conditions.

When my story proposal on high tech trash was accepted by National Geographic Magazine, I set about to find the most interesting locations to photograph. This turned out to be a difficult job as most of the work is done illegally and countries are not to eager to acknowledge that they are accepting trash from the USA or other developed nation. One organization, The Basel Action Network was most helpful and told me about a location near Accra, Ghana.

When I went there I discovered that there was a drop off spot on the edge of a shantytown where middlemen bought large lots of e-waste trucked in from the port a few hours away. Workers then bought individual pieces and stripped the copper wires out of them. The wires were then carried to an empty lot where the plastic was burned off and the copper then sold to another middleman.

It was between the shantytown and the burn lot that I saw a young boy carrying a load of wires on his head. I took just a couple of frames as he saw me and then as he looked away and started to walk on I took one more. I asked the man who was helping me to ask the boy?s name but he didn?t want to give it. He just said he was 10 years old and had come to Accra from the north of Ghana because his family could no longer farm the land on account of a drought.

During the course of this assignment I took pictures of all sorts of e-waste and many people doing the recycling work. However, it is this picture that I get the most requests for from stock buyers, environmental organizations and college students doing term papers on e-waste. I believe this must be because it puts a human face on an issue that can seem quite distant. For me, these pictures are like gifts that often come for only a split second. It is up to my reflexes and my training as a photojournalist to accept them and pass them on so others can share in the experience.

Source: http://peteressick.com/posts/a-chance-encounter-a-symbol-of-technology-gone-wrong/

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