Here Salgado photographed a man clinging to the rebar infrastructure of a very tall building in Kuningan Jakarta in Indonesia. He is a refugee working in construction and it is most likely the only job he could get. Often in developing countries and cities the main focus in construction is speed with safety and quality being distant afterthoughts.
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In 2007 in Baku Azerbaijan there was a tragic collapse of a sixteen story block of flats. The collapse was determined to have been caused by poor foundations and shoddy workmanship. At the time, Valeh Askerov, a refugee was working on the eleventh story putting final touches on the finish work in the building (Guliev). Valeh originally got a degree from the Azerbaijan Oil Academy but was unable to find work in his profession (Guliev). He took the job at the flat one month prior to the collapse because he could not find other employment (Guliev). He was believed to have been killed in the collapse.
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Refugees are considered second class citizens throughout the world and unfortunately until governments are held accountable for regulating safety conditions refugees will remain simply the collateral damage of cheap contractors.
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Sebastiao Salgado. Photograph. "Migrations: Humanity in Transition [The Human Family Around the World]". Legends Online. PDN and Kodak Professional. Web. ND. 3 March 2010.
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Guliev, Emin. “Building Tragedy Reverberates Through Baku.” Institute for War & Peace Reporting. 6 September 2007. Web. 3 March 2010
I really enjoyed your post. The title is really catchy! It gets me excited to go to Salt Lake to help those who in other circumstances would have to take jobs like this. I have always taken work for granted, and, honestly even in the tough economic times we are pretty blessed. America still is the highest peak these refugees are climbing for.
ReplyDeleteYou used the tool of pathos to create in the reader a wanting to help without actually asking for it!