2nd place
silver star award
VALERIE LEONARD
france 
title
KAWAH'S SLAVES
The quietly active volcano emits gases through fumaroles inside the crater, and local miners have tapped those gases to earn a living.
The first miners arrived here fifty years ago. Stone and ceramic pipes cap the fumaroles, and inside, the sulfur condenses into a molten red liquid, dripping down and solidifying into pure sulfur.
Miners hack chunks off with steel bars, braving extremely dangerous gases and liquids with minimal protection, then load up as much as they can carry for the several kilometers to the weighing station.
Loads can weigh from 170 to 220 lbs, and a single miner might make as many as two or three trips in a day.
At the end of a long day, miners take home approximately 6 $.
The sulfur is then used for vulcanizing rubber, bleaching sugar and other industrial processes nearby.
Fumes of hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid and sulfur dioxide attack mucous membranes, lungs, eyes and skin. The life expectancy of these men rarely exceeds 50 years.
When she presses the shutter, she remembers the doctrine of her father: "Always tell the Truth, but in terms of Beauty".
Valerie Leonard strives for her work to embody to this search for truth and beauty of human beings, whatever their origin or wealth.
Far from seeking aesthetic or false compassion, she wants to show the dignity of these women and men, in particularly hostile environments.
Throughout her trips around the world she focused her work particularly on a theme that she named “Labours of Hercules”.
A series of photographs where she attempts to show with utmost respect and admiration the nobility and courage of those living in difficult conditions.
back to gallery
entry description
In East Java, Indonesia lies Kawah Ijen volcano, 11.500 ft tall, topped with a large caldera and a 650 ft-deep lake of sulfuric acid.The quietly active volcano emits gases through fumaroles inside the crater, and local miners have tapped those gases to earn a living.
The first miners arrived here fifty years ago. Stone and ceramic pipes cap the fumaroles, and inside, the sulfur condenses into a molten red liquid, dripping down and solidifying into pure sulfur.
Miners hack chunks off with steel bars, braving extremely dangerous gases and liquids with minimal protection, then load up as much as they can carry for the several kilometers to the weighing station.
Loads can weigh from 170 to 220 lbs, and a single miner might make as many as two or three trips in a day.
At the end of a long day, miners take home approximately 6 $.
The sulfur is then used for vulcanizing rubber, bleaching sugar and other industrial processes nearby.
Fumes of hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid and sulfur dioxide attack mucous membranes, lungs, eyes and skin. The life expectancy of these men rarely exceeds 50 years.
about the photographer
Born in Paris, french-american, Valerie Leonard has always been surrounded by a world of images. Her mother was a painter, and her father, photographer, Herman Leonard.When she presses the shutter, she remembers the doctrine of her father: "Always tell the Truth, but in terms of Beauty".
Valerie Leonard strives for her work to embody to this search for truth and beauty of human beings, whatever their origin or wealth.
Far from seeking aesthetic or false compassion, she wants to show the dignity of these women and men, in particularly hostile environments.
Throughout her trips around the world she focused her work particularly on a theme that she named “Labours of Hercules”.
A series of photographs where she attempts to show with utmost respect and admiration the nobility and courage of those living in difficult conditions.
back to gallery
