Bloomberg: China’s Quest for Iron – film & photography by Jason Florio

Guinea’s Simandou mountains hold the largest untapped iron-ore deposit on the planet. Now a consortium of China-connected companies is moving ahead with a plan that jeopardizes one of the most biologically rich ecosystems in Africa. – words by Sheridan Prasso – Bloomberg

Bloomberg: China's Quest for Iron. Image © Jason Florio
Bloomberg: China’s Quest for Iron. Cashew trees along the highway are covered in dust kicked up by endless stream if trucks. Image © Jason Florio

China’s Quest for Iron

Bloomberg: China's Quest for Iron. Image © Jason Florio
Bloomberg: China’s Quest for Iron. Trucks carrying bauxite to the port operate 7-days a week, 24 houts a day, cutting through communities in Boke, Guinea. Image © Jason Florio

Worries Mount About Mining for Iron in Guinea

Bloomberg: China's Quest for Iron. Image © Jason Florio
Bloomberg: China’s Quest for Iron. Dust kicked by trucks along the national highway to Simadou affects residents and vendors along the way, Guinea. Image © Jason Florio

 “We don’t want to stop the project, because it’s important for our economy…but we want responsible mining.” Amadou Bah, executive director of the nonprofit Action Mines Guinée. Bloomberg

Watch the film – shot by Jason Florio: ‘China’s Quest for Iron’

Bloomberg: China's Quest for Iron. Image © Jason Florio
Bloomberg: China’s Quest for Iron. The water’s iron content is too high, and villagers say the company told them not to drink it. Image © Jason Florio

See more images from Jason Florio, watch the film, and read the full feature at Bloomberg

Currently in The Gambia, West Africa 
For assignment queries, and image licensing – Contact here
Fine Art Photography Print Sales – Contact Helen Jones Florio gallery

#GambiaDoors – ‘Isolation’ Photography Prints by Helen Jones-Florio

#GambiaDoors – ’Isolation’ (working title)… the next step.

For sometime, I’ve been mulling over where to go with my Gambia Doors photography prints series (including #DisappearingMalta). The doors and facades that often catch my eye are the ones I see as works of art. And, like most art, they are not perfect. There is beauty in the imperfections, the misspelt typography, a playfulness in the graphic design – intentional or not. But, the busy surroundings perhaps detract the eye from seeing these finer details. Therefore, isolating the doors and facades has always seemed the most obvious next step. I’m really enjoying the creative process of working on this new stage of my back catalogue of Gambia Doors. Helen Jones-Florio

@doors_helenjonesflorio

#GambiaDoors: Doors and Storefronts of The Gambia, West Africa - barber shop storefront showing hand-painted hairstyles. Image © Helen Jones-Florio
#GambiaDoors: Doors and Storefronts of The Gambia, West Africa: ‘The Standard Barber Shop’, Serrekunda. Image © Helen Jones-Florio

Featured image: ‘Isolation’ – Silver Photo Express, Kotu, The Gambia, West Africa. All images ©Helen Jones-Florio

‘Door Prints’ available at helenjonesflorio.com online gallery

The Gambia: Government White Paper is out. Ex-Gambia President Jammeh will be prosecuted.

BBC World News – 26th May, 2022

“I believe justice will be done…it was welcoming news to hear that ex-president, Yahya Jammeh, will finally be prosecuted” Ayeshah Harun Jammeh – Gambia Victims Centre

Talking to the BBC about the release of The Gambia government’s white paper. Ayeshah, one of many victims of the former 22-year regime of Jammeh, father and aunt were killed by Jammeh’s ‘Junglers’ – hit squad – on his orders.

Gambia – victims, and resisters

CAP Prize Winners 2021: (L) A man sits behind the wheel of his disused taxi - seen through the windscreen. (R) A nighttime street view, with people walking, silhouetted against street lights. Images © Jason Florio / Helen Jones-Florio 'Gambia-victims, and resisters'
CAP Prize Winners 2021: (L) . Pa Ousman Njie, torture victim, The Gambia (R) A Banjul street near where Ousman was abducted by National Intelligence agents, The Gambia. Images © Jason Florio / Helen Jones-Florio ‘Gambia-victims, and resisters’

The Ministry of Justice (The Gambia) said on Wednesday, 25th May, 2022, that it accepted all but two of the 265 recommendations made by a commission (Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission – TRRC) that probed alleged crimes committed by the state under the despotic former leader from July 1994 to January 2017.

The commission’s report – presented to President Adama Barrow and made public in December – was based on years of witness testimonies (to the TRRC) – Aljazeera

CAP Prize Winners 2021 L: a Gambia woman sits in a darkened room, with photos of her late brother in the background. R: a forest in rural Gambia. Images © Jason Florio / Helen Jones-Florio 'Gambia-victims, and resisters'
Fatou Jammeh, sister of Lt Lamin executed on the order of former Gambian president Yahya Jammeh (R) A forest near Jammeh’s palace allegedly where a number of victims were buried. Images © Jason Florio / Helen Jones-Florio ‘Gambia-victims, and resisters’

#Portraits4PositiveChange

Currently in The Gambia, West Africa 
For assignment queries, and image licensing – Contact here
Fine Art Photography Print Sales – Contact Helen Jones Florio gallery

#GambiaDoors: The (un)mundane – doors & storefronts by Helen Jones-Florio

#GambiaDoors: The (un)mudane. I have a slight obsession with doors and storefronts. These images form part of a much wider collection of photographs of doors and storefronts from The Gambia, taken over many years of both living and working in the region. Regardless of where I travel to, for work or play, the collection gets bigger! #DisappearingMalta is also another extensive collection. As featured in the Times of Malta & the Photography Daily Show podcast

#AfricanDoors - ’Isolation’ (working title) photography prints ©Helen Jones-Florio #AfricanDoors - ’Isolation’ (working title) photography prints ©Helen Jones-Florio #GambiaDoors - ’Isolation’ (working title) photography prints. #GambiaDoors - ’Isolation’ (working title): #GambiaDoors - ’Isolation’ (working title): #GambiaDoors - ’Isolation’ (working title): #GambiaDoors - ’Isolation’ (working title): #GambiaDoors - ’Isolation’ (working title): #GambiaDoors - ’Isolation’ (working title)… the next step

I adore the project…probably because it’s exactly the one I would have loved to have started myself. Neale Jame-Photography Daily Show

#GambiaDoors

#GambiaDoors - the shop front of a local beauty salon in Serrekunda, The Gambia ©Helen Jones-Florio
#GambiaDoors – ‘Classic Beauty Salon, Serrekunda, The Gambia ©Helen Jones-Florio

Buy Photography Prints by Helen Jones-Florio

Currently in The Gambia, West Africa with Jason Florio
For assignment queries, and image licensing – Contact here
Fine Art Photography Print Sales – Contact Helen Jones Florio gallery
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