TOKYO-2017 Editorial / Photo Essay

The victims of our wealth - DR Congo

  • Prize
    Silver in Editorial/Photo Essay
  • Photographer
    Stefano Stranges

The Masisi territory is one of the richest and exploited of Congo, due to the abundance of minerals, but people live without hope. They are forced to work in the mines to survive and the problems of schooling and the lack of other job opportunities make them slaves. Moreover the area is doomed by long term bloody conflicts due to its land’s richness. Goma, confining with Rwanda, is one of the main bases for the Coltan trade, which is now a highly requested mineral because of the great increase of the technology market. Coltan, in other words, the mineral that everyone carries around in his or her pocket, is the object of a long commercial chain that implicates serious conseguences in term of human and enviromental rights.This mineral which is used in the production of various high tech materials, is especially fundamental in making smartphones.

Italian independent photographer and photojournalist. Born in 1978, I began my professional career in 2006. In 2011 I turned my attention to the problematic social issues on the planet, so I started to collaborate with national and international NGOs. My shots capture the harsh realities that oppress contemporary society, from exploitation to civil war, passing through the disasters caused by natural calamity and climate change. I published my reports in many magazines, including Rolling Stone, Millenium, Jesus Mag, La stampa. My works have been exhibited in several exhibitions in Europe.