Lead Kids by Gustavo Jononovich (November 22, 2009) 
(5 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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Curator Statement by Diederik Meijer
Today's story is a shocking account of the realities of polution in La Oroya, Peru and the terrible effects it can have. Gustavo focuses one child's predicament, one that I find hard to look at. It is not always a blessing for developing countries to have vast supplies of natural resources. Although Peru may seem far away to viewers in the Western World, in the globalized economies of today, it is not impossible for lead produced in Peru to travel to their doorsteps. According to Reuters, operations at the La Oroya plant have been halted since June 2009 after it ran out of money.
More on this issue by Christopher Anderson and Ed Kashi.
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Our poll "A photo essay always needs a great written story" closed. 267 people voted, 28% agrees, 72% disagrees. 233 people answered our follow-up question "Are you a photographer?" 82% indicated they are, 18% said no. Initially, negative answers to question #1 were almost 100% as was the pecentage of photographers among respondants. Then, when the level of non-photographers started to rise, the percentage of people indicating good text is always essential started to rise too. This seems to indicate that non-photographers think that adding good text to your photo essays is essential. In my opinion: if you want non-photographers to dig your work, you know what to do...
La Oroya is a mining town in the Peruvian Andes and one of the world's ten most polluted places, where 99.7% of its 12.000 children have blood lead levels that exceed acceptable limits.
Doe Run Company, one of the world's largest lead producers, operates a smelter plant in La Oroya, it has been in operation since 1997.
Liquid wastes from primary lead production include wastewater. The water is considered hazardous waste due to the lead content (source: Illinois Sustainable Technology Center).
Lead Kids is part of a long-term project that documents some of the transformations Latin America is going through. Latin America has a wealth of natural resources. But rather than benefiting from that wealth, local communities living in areas of exploitation have experienced loss of livelihoods, violent conflict, health problems, persistent human rights violations and environmental degradation.
Gustavo Jononovich (1979) lives and works in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Click weblink gustavojononovich.com or browse our archives
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Posted in category 646
nice light:)
Excelent!
Very well done!