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Toby Smith at FotoFest 2016 in HoustonThe island of Madagascar...
Reportage by Getty Images TumblrToby Smith at FotoFest 2016 in Houston
The island of Madagascar is one of the planet’s most precious ecological treasures, and home to one of its poorest nations. A 2009 coup left it isolated from the international community, deprived of foreign aid and conservation funding. Amid this political uncertainty, the island’s fragile and unique ecology is being smuggled out illegally, gem by gem, boat by boat.
Reportage photographer Toby Smith recently visited Madagascar’s sapphire mines, which are operated by ‘human conveyor belts’ on a wage of $2 per day, per worker. His resulting video, made with a team of researchers and visual artists by the name of Unknown Fields Division, uses graphic overlays to explain the economics and environmental implications of Madagascar’s sapphire mines. If you’re in the Houston, Texas, area tonight, Toby will be speaking about his work at FotoFest 2016. Visit the FotoFest website for more details. The time and place is:
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23
5:30-6:30pm / Free to the Public
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, 400 Dallas St 77002
