Synopses & Reviews
Cultural Writing. Photography. CRUDE REFLECTIONS/CRUDE REALIDAD chronicles the human and environmental impact of oil drilling in the Ecuadoran Amazon, where the pollution is so extensive that medical experts currently predict thousands of deaths from cancer and the disappearance of five indigenous rainforest communities. Community leaders and doctors already report elevated rates of cancer in the region, as well as birth defects. Photographers Lou Dematteis and Kayana Szymczak have documented the physical and emotional reality of those affected by this toxic contamination, roughly 30 times greater than the more widely reported Exxon Valdez spill. The book also documents an uplifting campaign for justice, culminating in a landmark legal case now being adjudicated in Ecuador. While focusing on one geographic region, CRUDE REFLECTIONS makes a statement about the need for safe environmental practices and the importance of preservation throughout the world. Text accompanying photos is in Spanish and English.
Synopsis
Crude Reflections chronicles the human and environmental impact of oil drilling in the Ecuadorian Amazon, where the pollution is so extensive that medical experts currently predict thousands of deaths from cancer and the disappearance of five indigenous rainforest communities.
Photographers Lou Dematteis and Kayana Szymczak have documented the physical and emotional reality of those affected by this toxic contamination, roughly thirty times greater than the more widely reported Exxon Valdez oil spill. Their powerful images are accompanied by moving first-person testimonies from the victims, and the uplifting story of efforts by local communities to seek justice and to prevent further drilling.
Synopsis
An indigenous community's landmark legal case to hold Chevron accountable for its contamination of the Amazon.
About the Author
Award-winning photographer Dematteis is a former staff photographer for Reuters. He has exhibited extensively at home and abroad, and his photos have been included in the NY Times "Pictures of the Year." His anthology of the Sandinista years, "Nicaragua: A Decade of Revolution," was published by Norton in 1991, and also published his book "A Portrait of Vietnam" in Photographer and human rights advocate, Szymczak has worked with Global Exchange, Rain Forest Action Network, the Ruckus Society and Amazon Watch. She was awarded a Titcomb Foundation award to document the impact of ChevronTexaco's oil development on people in the Ecuadorian region of the Amazon, part of a larger project called "Blook of the Earth," a multi-region photo Former lead singer and bassist for rock band The Police. With his wife Trudie Styler and Raoni Metuktire, a Kayapó Indian leader in Brazil, Sting founded the Rainforest Foundation to help save the rainforests. His support for these causes continues to this day, and includes an annual benefit concert held at New York's Carnegie Hall.