Pieter Hugo and Permanent Error

"The UN Environment Program has stated that Western countries produce around 50 million tons of digital waste every year." states Pieter Hugo's website.

In this image there are elements of our world disappearing into the gray of nothingness. Like a faint memory of of the past history. At this angle at which Pieter Hugo photographed the keyboard it appears to be the view rite in front of my feet. As if this is a view in to the future.

 For the past year Pieter Hugo has been photographing the people and the landscape of an electrical dump in Ghana.

This landscape is far from romantic. Where we know cows constantly eating fresh, green grass, there is none here, here they just vegetate on the gray ashes of trash. And instead of a blue sky all we see is smog. But jet there are people walking around, going about their business. The only color: a blue dress instead of the blue sky.

The electrical waste was shipped there to help reduce the digital divide and create jobs. But the fact is that the only value to the parts is the metal, which can only be extracted though burning the plastic off.

 All this waste and burning is of course contaminating the ground, air and water making it poisoness. In this image Hugo included several people reminding me somewhat of a flee market. One can see some electronics being burnt, perhaps a microwave. There are slight inclusions of color manly red and green.

This image is a great Juxtaposition in subject and color. This man probably didn't travel to Italy on a vacation and purchased a bag as a souvenir. Us westerners take many things for granted.

Pieter tends to but his main focus rite in the middle, this reads to me that all he is doing is stating the reality and not trying to make a personal statement.