Exposure: Portrait Of A Corporate Crime

Raghu Rai, Indian, born 1942

Exposure: Portrait Of A Corporate Crime, 2002 

In this photograph by Raghu Rai, protesters are gathered outside the walls of the abandoned United Carbide factory. These protests are demanding that medical research be established to study toxic contamination and human health in the area. With more medical research, people who have been negatively affected by the toxic gas released during the Bhopal disaster can hopefully be treated. They are gathered near The Statue of Mother & Child created through a collaboration between Ruth Waterman and Bhopal survivors. The sign with the web on it discusses a recent study performed by the Indian Council of Medical Research. The council studied the results of children born to women and daughters that were exposed to methyl isocyanate, but later refused to release the results of this study. Through this picture Rai captured the battle people are still fighting to achieve environmental justice for those affected in Bhopal. Label by Olivia Falb

Burial of an Unknown Child

Raghu Rai, Indian, born 1942

Burial of an Unknown Child, 1984

Arriving in Bhopal on the morning of December 4th, 1984, Raghu Rai witnessed and photographed the aftermath of the Bhopal gas tragedy, which killed at least 4,000 people and affected the lives of more than 100,000. Children made up a large number of the fatalities and injuries, especially because the poisonous gas drifted close to the ground. Rai photographed the burial of this unidentified child; her eyes are cloudy and swollen due to her exposure to the gas. The child’s family was never identified, but her image has become an icon for the disaster. Label by Sarah Roberts