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A life of waste
It was a mistake to ignore my taxi driver’s advice to buy a mask, the stench of the rot and decay hit me moments before the appalling sight of an entire community living and working inside these repulsive wastelands also known as Smokey mountain.
Steung Meanchey’s 100 acre municipal waste dump is located in southern Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Over 2000 men, women and children live and work there, earning up to a dollar a day collecting recyclable product.
The dump is on fire; methane gas emits from the rotting waste, burning black smoke into the lungs of its inhabitants. During the Monsoon Season children live and play in fetid water. As I point the camera at a little girl filling her grime stained sack, she offers a smile which just chips away a piece of my heart.
It is difficult to take pictures of these dignified people, but the camera acts as a mirror to show the world what their world is like. Unfortunately the smell has evaded the images yet it still haunts me.