Rodrigo Cruz

Photographer

The everyday life of the Illegal miners in the Peruvian Amazon.

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Focus: Photographer, Photojournalist, Videographer, Travel, Sports, Environment, Illustrator, Documentary, Multimedia, Video, Film, Photography, Illustration, Stock, Culture, Director of Photography, Arts & Culture, Freelance, Civil Rights and Social Inequality, Humanitarian, Assignments, Teacher, Human Rights, Artist, Feature Films, Education, Animation, Editorial, Visual Artist, Outdoor adventure, Audio Visuals, Still Photographer, Sports/Action, Reportage, Visual Journalist, Visual Storyteller, Visual Storytelling

School: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

A miner checks the fine sand th... been working for several days.

A miner checks the fine sand that sits on a plate to see if there is still gold in the area where they have been working for several days.

A miner controls an engine desi...ork is collected and processed.

A miner controls an engine designed to suck and eject mud from a big hole in the jungle, this mud carries gold that after a day's work is collected and processed.

Two miners check the water that... during their 24 hours workday.

Two miners check the water that slides on a carpet and that they will later shake to raise the gold that has accumulated during their 24 hours workday.

Two miners walk on a carpet whe... the gold that has accumulated.

Two miners walk on a carpet where the gold particles accumulate at the end of the 24 hours workday will rinse the carpet to lift the gold that has accumulated.

A tree felled to expand the wor... mining in the Peruvian Amazon.

A tree felled to expand the work area for gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon.

A miner worker with a machete, ...ch area in the Peruvian Amazon.

A miner worker with a machete, around him, many trees that have been cut to expand the gold search area in the Peruvian Amazon.

Devastated landscape by the min...y destroying the Amazon jungle.

Devastated landscape by the mining that crosses several hectares where gold is extracted every day destroying the Amazon jungle.

A man loads gasoline for the bo...s river in the Peruvian Amazon.

A man loads gasoline for the boat motor; other miners prepare to go out to work at the different gold mining places in the Madre de Dios river in the Peruvian Amazon.

Plastic containers with contrab...nd gold in the Peruvian Amazon.

Plastic containers with contraband gasoline that is used to run the engines that suck the mud from the holes to find gold in the Peruvian Amazon.

Four carpet ramps trap gold whe...ud residues in Huaypetue, Peru.

Four carpet ramps trap gold when sliding; at the bottom an artificial lagoon with mud residues in Huaypetue, Peru.

A truck that transports gasolin...he Peruvian Amazon is smuggled.

A truck that transports gasoline crosses a river. The Peruvian government has banned the sale of gasoline in big quantities without a permit, therefore a lot of gasoline in the Peruvian Amazon is smuggled.

View of the town of Huaypetue f...g areas in the Peruvian Amazon.

View of the town of Huaypetue from the old bed of a river, Huaypetue is one of the largest mining areas in the Peruvian Amazon.

Women sell fruits and vegetable...ctivity in the Peruvian Amazon.

Women sell fruits and vegetables on a street in Boca Colorado, a town formed entirely by mining activity in the Peruvian Amazon.

Children students inside a clas...ctivity in the Peruvian Amazon.

Children students inside a classroom in a school in Boca Colorado, a town formed entirely by mining activity in the Peruvian Amazon.

Father Pablo Zavala during a ma... Kareme in the Peruvian Amazon.

Father Pablo Zavala during a mass for the death of a person from the community of San Jose de Kareme in the Peruvian Amazon.

A couple and other people durin...town formed by mining activity.

A couple and other people during a soccer game in Boca Colorado, a town formed by mining activity.

Two miners work alongside the b...suction in the Peruvian Amazon.

Two miners work alongside the bed of the Madre de Dios River in the extraction of gold by suction in the Peruvian Amazon.

A miner holds a gold nugget tha...yment for his 24 hours workday.

A miner holds a gold nugget that he will sell to obtain payment for his 24 hours workday.

Miners wash and shake the carpe...people with prolonged exposure.

Miners wash and shake the carpet to separate the grit that contains the gold, then it will be separated with mercury. Mercury polluted rivers and affects the health of people with prolonged exposure.

A miner submerged in the mud, t...d and deposit it in the carpet.

A miner submerged in the mud, takes out the stones that have stuck the hose, the hose sucks the mud that contains the gold and deposit it in the carpet.

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Thumbnail of A miner checks the fine sand tha_e been working for several days.

Thumbnail of A miner controls an engine desig_work is collected and processed.

Thumbnail of Two miners check the water that _d during their 24 hours workday.

Thumbnail of Two miners walk on a carpet wher_t the gold that has accumulated.

Thumbnail of A tree felled to expand the work_d mining in the Peruvian Amazon.

Thumbnail of A miner worker with a machete, a_rch area in the Peruvian Amazon.

Thumbnail of Devastated landscape by the mini_ay destroying the Amazon jungle.

Thumbnail of A man loads gasoline for the boa_os river in the Peruvian Amazon.

Thumbnail of Plastic containers with contraba_ind gold in the Peruvian Amazon.

Thumbnail of Four carpet ramps trap gold when_mud residues in Huaypetue, Peru.

Thumbnail of A truck that transports gasoline_the Peruvian Amazon is smuggled.

Thumbnail of View of the town of Huaypetue fr_ng areas in the Peruvian Amazon.

Thumbnail of Women sell fruits and vegetables_activity in the Peruvian Amazon.

Thumbnail of Children students inside a class_activity in the Peruvian Amazon.

Thumbnail of Father Pablo Zavala during a mas_e Kareme in the Peruvian Amazon.

Thumbnail of A couple and other people during_ town formed by mining activity.

Thumbnail of Two miners work alongside the be_ suction in the Peruvian Amazon.

Thumbnail of A miner holds a gold nugget that_ayment for his 24 hours workday.

Thumbnail of Miners wash and shake the carpet_ people with prolonged exposure.

Thumbnail of A miner submerged in the mud, ta_ld and deposit it in the carpet.

Public Project

The everyday life of the Illegal miners in the Peruvian Amazon.

Date of Work Jun 2017 - Ongoing

Updated Jul 2020

Location Boca Colorado

Topics Climate Change, Conservation, Documentary, Editorial, Environment, Landscape, Latin America, Photography, Photojournalism

The amazon is the largest tropical forest in the world. It is considered that its extension reaches the 2,300,000 square miles of which Peru and Brazil have the largest extension. Peruvian Amazon has one of the most biodiverse natural reserves in the world and it has started to become a desert. Most of this environmental disaster is due to illegal mining, besides other reasons. Large landscapes are deforested, existing vegetation and trees are burned, and dangerous quantities of mercury are released into the environment. Mercury is used to extracting gold, and a large proportion pollutes rivers. This poisons those people engaged in this activity and nearby populations, as many locals depend on freshwater fish for a protein source, this release has become a public health issue.

I want to continue my project about mining in the Amazon, this time through the everyday life of the miners and one of the priests. Pablo Zabala, 70 years old, first traveled to the Amazon in 1978 as a young biologist collecting butterflies and condors for his university's museum in Spain. He returned to Peru years after to work in the Amazon, this time as a priest. He has lived in the Amazon for 24 years now and spent the last 10 running a Catholic parish that works with the people of many mining camps, mostly men from poor villages who search mercury-laced rivers for a pebble of gold. In an interview with Zabala, he affirmed that there are around 85,000 families that have to survive by mining gold in the Amazon because the main problem for these communities is the lack of opportunities in the region and the extreme poverty in which they live. I want to go back and spend time in these communities, in order to construct a visual narrative about their everyday life and also about the impact on the environment that their activities create. I also would like to register the advance of the environmental devastation.

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Also by Rodrigo Cruz —

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Rodrigo Cruz

Jan 25, 2021

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Central American migrants through Mexico

Rodrigo Cruz / México City

Jan 20, 2008 - May 3, 2016

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