Sophie Gerrard: The Coal Cycle Wallahs

Wobbling and pushing their bikes laden high with stolen coal, the Coal Cycle Wallahs slowly make their way through rural Jharkhand's steep and twisting forest roads.  Home to the largest coal belt in Asia, Jharkhand has been plagued by poverty, lawlessness, bad governance and corruption for over 50 years. The Coal Cycle Wallahs and the work they do, are a stark illustration of poverty in the midst of rich fossil fuel resource abundance.

The Cheese Man

Chris and Kamala Zandee are amazing people. They live, as the expression goes, simply so that others may simply live. Their concern is for the Gujjars, the shepherd people of Kashmir. These people are close to Matt Brandon's heart (visit his gallery to see more photos of them).

Matt met Chris and Kam years back while I was still living in Kashmir.  He adds, "Even then, they had a desire to give back and bless the Kashmiri and Gujjar people. Earlier this year, you will recall I went to Kashmir and while there I learned of the Zandee’s cheese factory. It sounded a little bit odd to me. So I investigated and what I found was an amazing adventure that has started to make and impact on many people in the region. I hope you enjoy this photo documentary I call The Cheese Man." 

Coal Hollow

Coal is still king in much of Appalachia, yet the heritage and history of the people who enabled the United States to become an economic superpower in the Industrial age are slipping away.

This audio slideshow presents arresting black and white photographs and powerful oral histories that chronicle the legacy of coalmining in southern West Virginia. Ken and Melanie Light traveled hundreds of miles through rugged, isolated terrain recording the stories of a range of people whose lives were shaped by coal: retired miners, men and women who have been jobless their entire lives, a contemporary coal baron, a justice of the State Supreme Court of West Virginia, a writer who bravely ran for governor on a third party ticket, and people who returned to the hills when their lives failed elsewhere.

What emerges is a complex portrait of people locked into an intricate web of geography, history, and unfettered profiteering. In Light's poignant images, and in their own distinctive voices the residents of Coal Hollow, a fictional composite of the communities the Lights surveyed reveal how the intersection of mountain culture and the greed of the coal companies produced the most powerful economy in the world yet brought crushing poverty to a region of once-proud people.

We Are All Workers

When the steel mills closed in Braddock, PA, they left behind a dwindling population living in near apocalyptic circumstances. Now, a new generation of urban pioneers has come with a mission...to create a new frontier from the ashes of the once vibrant town.

At The Border

At The Border is a photo essay that describes the illegal labor markets in the new member states of the European Union. Photos by Jan Brykczynski.

First Contact

Paramedics, the first responders, as seen through the lens of Robert Gumpert.

Leathal Leather

Amy Johansson recently coproduced, with Gabrielle Jönsson, an audio slideshow titled Lethal Leather about the Bangladesh hide industry including its medieval conditions and the lethal toxic consequences on its workers.

Sugar Millionaires

Photographs by Sven Crouitzmann.

Choosing A Road More Traveled

Clay, a gifted 18-year-old musician near the top of her class in her small town of Newark, Ohio, should be going to a top college on scholarship. But she won't be, because like many in her small town, she feels a need to make money more than music.  Read the rest of the story here.

Traveling With Ghana's Kayayo Girls

Photographer Peter DiCampo meets the young women who come to Ghana's big cities in search of work and a future. Watch the photo essay here.

Common Ground

The last half-century has seen the disappearance of the American family farm, and the grave cultural and environmental impact of the resulting suburban sprawl.  In 14 years of looking and listening, Scott Strazzante sets judgment aside as he explores the evolution of one plot of Illinois farmland, and the people who live their lives there. What results is Common Ground, in which we are given a chance to mourn what is lost, but are also challenged to question the meaning of home.

Driftless: Stories From A Family Farm

Once at the center of the U.S. economy, the family farm now drifts at its edges. In Iowa, old-time farmers try to hang on to their way of life, while their young push out to find their futures elsewhere. Click on the image below to hear their stories.