, a series of photo essays from across the country through the lenses of independent imagemakers. Follow the whole series here. This installment was produced with support from the
Some of the earliest memories I have of the United States after immigrating from Mexico are the long drives to the supermarket my father and I used to take. As soon as we entered the car, my father would put on his favorite CD, by Los Tigres Del Norte, and immediately “La Jaula De Oro” would start to play. This
norteña anthem laments that the journey of migration, the opportunities that await in America, and the struggle to live the American Dream all come with great costs: “Although this cage is made of gold,” Los Tigres sing, “it does not stop being a prison.” As my dad nodded along, I could tell this was a lesson my father had learned himself, creating a life away from the country of his youth. But for me, it ended up taking a few years of living here to fully understand the complex
effects of illegal mining on every form of life in the amazon. this is the river what it looks like. oh, my god. cafe con leche. do you see now the dead trees? everything goes directly into these rivers which are now ponded. they re starting to drown the trees around here because water s accumulating. all the trash is dumped here. lots of vultures here. they re part of the cleanup crew, i guess. this play has become hostile to bringos with cameras. but francisco knows some guys in one of the many blue tarp shanty towns that rim the forest. hola. mucho gusto. their illicit two-wheel taxi service is known as los tigres. my driver, one of the thousands of young men who have come from all over peru, lured by an operation that could net $100 a day or get them killed. we ride for 20 minutes before
the devastating effects of mining in the amazon. this is what it looks like. oh, my god. do you see now the dead trees? everything goes directly into these rivers that are now ponded. all the trash is down here. lots of vultures here. they re part of the cleanup crew, i guess. this place has become hostile to gringos with cameras, but francisco knew a guy in one of the shantytowns. their illicit two wheel taxi service is known as los tigres. my driver lured by an operation that could have met $100 a day or get them killed.
of the most precious rain forests around. this is up in bolivia where pollution is starting to take its toll. it s a beautiful place, amazing people. and it looks beautiful. tell us about the gold rush. what s being done to try to mitigate it? about 600 square miles of some of the most pristine rain forest in the western amazon is just been turned into this toxic wasteland, the miners go out on the los tigres, illicit taxi companies on dirt bikes, they go into the rain forest with a diesel pump and fire hoses. they wash the sandbags down and cut all the trees down until it starts to look like desert. they take mercury barrels and stomp it in order to get the gold to amalgamate. look what it does to the amazon. who knows how many centuries it will take to bring that back. it s a difficult balance. economic prosperity versus