Sometimes I don’t recognise Ghana…....... Pieter Hugo’s photographs show how the people of ‘Agbogbloshie’ live with the consequences of technology waste from the ‘West’…..

Photographer Pieter Hugo. Aissah Salifu, Agbogbloshie Market, Accra, Ghana, 2010. From the series Permanent Error. (c) Pieter Hugo, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

Photographer: Pieter Hugo. Naasra Yeti, Agbogbloshie Market, Accra, Ghana, 2009. From the series Permanent Error. (c) Pieter Hugo, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York.

Photographer: Pieter Hugo. Yakubu Al Hasan, Agbogbloshie Market, Accra, Ghana, 2009. From the series Permanent Error. (c) Pieter Hugo, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

Photographer Pieter Hugo. Yaw Francis, Agbogbloshie Market, Accra, Ghana, 2009. From the series Permanent Error. (c) Pieter Hugo, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

Photos: http://www.imagesource.com/blog/preview-pieter-hugo/


“The most recent publication from the award-winning photographer Pieter Hugo reveals the devastating consequences of toxic waste on one community in Africa. In his previous well-received volumes of photographs, Hugo offers unflinching yet striking portraits of humans, animals, societies, and landscapes that shock and disturb, but also demand our attention. In Permanent Error, he documents a garbage dump in Ghana that has become the repository for discarded computers from around the world. These haunting images document the true cost of a misguided policy-the shipping of millions of tons of obsolete computers to developing countries. The computers are burned to extract valuable metals, effectively turning the site into a toxic wasteland that contaminates air, soil, and groundwater for miles around. These amazing portraits tell a story of a marginal community overwhelmed by poverty, but where human strength and resilience shine through the inhuman conditions Hugo lays bare.” Amazon


Paulina Opoku-Gyimah says: Winner of a World Press Photo Portrait award, South African photographer Pieter Hugo has bypassed the poverty stricken townships in his own country to photograph our shameful secret -Agbogbloshie Market or “Sodom and Gomorrah” as the locals call it, where children scrape a meagre living from the waste dumped in Ghana by the west… it’s a shame really…because from the little that I know …we [Ghana] are supposed to be upping our game with regards to tourism -and this…I’m guessing -doesn’t help. The above photograph are from the, ‘Permanent Error’ series and are on display at the Yossi Milo Gallery in New York …you can find out more via: http://www.yossimilo.com/ and buy a copy of ‘Permanent Error’ at: http://www.amazon.com/Permanent-Error-Pieter-Hugo/dp/3791345206.. I wonder…will any of the proceeds from this book be used to help the people in the photographs above???


P.s ..if we don’t clean up our act soon -Ghana will become that place where the west go to dump their waste…....