Nicolo Lanfranch
Aline Tiberio, Claudio de Almeida, and their children look at the mining waste covering some of their community (Parque de Cachoeira), 2019
In November of 2015, toxic sludge released from a dam collapse, burying an entire village of Mariana, and affecting the ecosystem surrounding it. It covered houses, cars, streets, and filled the river bed of Rio Doce, the most important in the region. This photograph by Aline Tiberio (a photographer for The Guardian) depicts the emotional impact of this disaster of destruction. The family overlooking an area of their community hits home for the human impact this had and the displacement of adults and children. The eldest child is shown covering her face, either from gasping or covering from the smell of all the toxic waste depicted. This family was illustrated as survivors, meanwhile many other families' bodies remained buried with missing victims being almost impossible to find due to the toxicity posed by the sludge. The Mariana dam was owned by a joint venture between BHP Billiton and the Brazilian mining company Vale. Label by Isabel Schreur