The diamond rush Photo

Photographer’s Note

As a follow up to my previous post, here are some illegal diamond miners along the Bushimaye river.
Try to imagine hundred of people, one over the other, searching for improbable diamonds in the alluvial plain of the river. At this place, close to the city bridge, there was a real rush because one of them was said to have found a diamond of several carats (well worth a lifelong salary for these poor congolese men).

In the workshop, you can see a global view of the site.

Mbuji Mayi used to be for decades the major industrial diamond production site in the world. Nowadays, things are in a very bad situation and legal operations by the MIBA company are almost in standby.

MarcT, mauricet, rhizomes, Wandering_Dan, alainh trouve(nt) cette note utile

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gbeli (2026) 2007-10-27 7:17

Hello Eric
Nice photo which depict the grim reality of these men.
Good POV and colors.
Regards

ViktorVaughn (1517) 2007-10-27 7:27

Very interesting photo showing the situation in this area. I actually prefer your workshop photo, where you can see just how many men are searching for diamonds.

Very educational photo. Technically, I think you should have taken a few steps forward to shoot this as that large hump with the green in it really takes away from the photo, as it blocks the view into the digging area.

Regards

pat0500 (21513) 2007-10-27 7:42

Bonjour Eric,
N'oublie pas de me faire signe si tu fais fortune d'ici peu temps...:o)
Un bon cliché et merci pour le WS également..!
Bien à toi et bon WE.
Patrick

MarcT (21103) 2007-10-27 8:33

Salut Eric,
j'aime ton gros plan. L'image est pleine de détails sur différents étages.
Concernant l'encadrement en relief, j'ai eu cette habitude aussi mais plusieurs membres actifs de TE m'ont fait la remarque que ce n'était pas un plus. A y penser, j'ai fini par avoir le même avis qu'eux et j'ai donc arrêté de l'utiliser.
Amitiés
Marc

rhizomes (15325) 2007-10-28 1:46

Salut Eric,
Les dures conditions de pauvreté ressortent bien de l'image et de son commentaire...
Une image touchante et interpellante.
Christophe

Wandering_Dan (3265) 2007-11-03 10:18

Very interesting and poignant slice of daily life. I actually think it gives a better sense of the desperate activity than the WS version. The green mound doesn't bother me either, perhaps because I've seen this sort of scene for real too many times in Kenya (gravel, not diamonds, but it's the same idea). Besides, as you said in your discussion, it was risky enough to take this photo from where you were standing - and I know about that problem, too. A friend of mine from the US Embassy who specializes in child labor tried to take some pictures at a gravel pit, and everyone promptly disappeared until he left.

Regards,
Dan

alainh (35381) 2007-11-11 21:53

Bonjour Eric
effectivement, il faut vivre ou survivre parfois et je comprends que certains tentent leur chance sur des rumeurs qui pourraient peut-être les mettre definitivement à l'abri du besoin. une image de fourmiliere humaine. il n'y a malgré tout pas une grosse activité, on a pas l'impression d'un engouement féroce, le dernier diamant a du être trouvé il y a bien longtemps.
belle image
amicalement
alain