De money series no. 1

George Osodi, Nigerian, born 1974

De money series no. 1

De money series no. 1 illustrates twelve young men precariously mining on the edge of a mountain in Nigeria. The men appear almost like cave paintings, two-dimensionally floating upon the rock. Osodi forces the audience to consider how these men’s social situations tip with the same amount of fragility. Such dangerous work speaks volumes of the desperation these young men must face to search for gold in this manner. This work is part of a series that depicts the dangers of illegal mining and oil extraction in Nigeria. Label by Katie Lee

De Money

George Osodi, Nigerian, born 1974

De Money, 2009

This is one image from a series of photographs by Osodi called “De Money,” an exhibition detailing the back-breaking labor of workers in their steady search for “gold” or “de money.” I thought this particular photo was a startling example of the paradoxical nature of the mining industry in Africa; as Rotinwa aptly puts it, there’s “deprivation amidst plenty.” Locals in the Niger Delta are sitting on a wealth of resources, but are forced to work at the vicious bidding of mining corporations who strip the landscape of their natural beauty and trap residents in a vicious cycle of poverty and pollution. In his shockingly frank photojournalism, Osodi leaves little to the viewer’s imagination, but is still able to convey the strength of human resilience and determination in the face of capitalism and corruption. In short, Osodi treats his subjects as survivors, not victims. Label by Tara Vasanth