MARK OLALDE
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South  Africa

A  journey  into  south  Africa's  mines,  the  lives  of  its  miners  and
the  energy-production  industries  fueling  Africa's  rapid  growth

By: Mark Olalde


The  void,  dust,  gold  and  powering  the  Rainbow  Nation:  An  online  photography  exhibit

5/11/2017

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THE VOID, DUST, GOLD AND POWERING THE RAINBOW NATION is an online photography exhibit of my work, a project that was to be supported by Wits University but died in academia's relentless bureaucracy. Instead of letting my work die with it, I am trying something new....

This exhibit was born from my journalistic view of South African mining and studied through the literal lens of my camera. The evolution of my reporting led me to attempt a more nuanced view of the interconnected activities and consequences of minerals extraction, the primary intention of this experiment.

I question: What are the common experiences placed upon South Africa and its inhabitants by resource extraction? This question leads to other threads: the direct impacts of mining on local communities and environments, the responsibility of companies and government, the impact of race on power within the mining industry, the influence of international markets on far-removed communities and the part played by the rest of the country.
 
Many of these relationships become so powerful because of their juxtaposition. Instead of forcing these juxtapositions in individual frames, though, I am highlighting relationships through the physical (well, electronic at least) space of the exhibit. Note the individual clusters of (low resolution) frames to come. Each will come with a main photograph and with the surrounding shots (in different physical and theoretical manners) relating back to it.

As South Africa aspires to join the First World, the nation struggles with a history that includes colonialism, migrant labor and apartheid. This Rainbow Nation -- with its heartbeat in a city named for one of the very resources that built it -- cannot simply untangle itself from this complicated past and the industry that reinforced its prejudices. Instead, I hope this exhibit might add one more data point to the discussion surrounding remediation of the mining industry's fallout...
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Remnants: Gold mine waste is strewn across the West Rand


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Forced Coexistence: An unrehabilitated gold mine scars Johannesburg
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Amadiba



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Complex Power Complex: Sasol's Secunda coal and chemicals refinery operates in Mpumalanga


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Legality: An informal settlement housing zama zamas on the Blyvooruitzicht Gold Mine
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Alternative Mining Indaba protester
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After Tears: A shaft rises from the ruins of a former gold mine
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Photo  of  the  Week:  People

5/1/2017

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Picture
Eita,
My work covering South African mining in 2016/17 largely began at the South African Human Rights Commission's hearing on mining-affected communities last year. The commission's investigation fits with a trend of more focus being placed on the impacts of the country's mining industry on both the populations near operations as well as the rest of the country. To tell environmental stories, I usually need to turn to a human face (many other environmental reporters often turn to an animal one instead) as an anecdote for the impacts of x, y or z. The commission's hearings brought an outpouring of stories from people directly impacted by mining, and those threads are what garnered public attention.

Pictured above, Mbolwa Divele lives about a kilometer inland on the Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape. I interviewed him and his brother, who lives one hill over from Mbolwa, about a titanium mine that is proposed not far from their homes. This specific fight gained international attention when the leader of a group called the Amadiba Crisis Committee, which leads the anti-mining movement there, was murdered. Now, another member of the committee has stood up to address the public, a tactic that has proven to work well with journalists.

In all these environmental stories, people are affected somehow, and their stories require careful investigation and coverage. For that reason, my last Photo of the Week from several years of work in South Africa is simply "people."

Sharp sharp,

Mark
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Photo  of  the  Week:  Protected  Areas

4/25/2017

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Picture
Eita,
It's been a while (and more posts now now), but thanks for checking out my latest.

One theme that has emerged over this past year has been protected environments and their place as a litmus test for conservation. The above photo frames part of the prospecting area for a potential coal mine that would tunnel under the Mabola Protected Environment in Mpumalanga. An Indian company called Atha-Africa Ventures is looking to mine, but the area is extremely important for its high water yield. (Work I and others published in the Oxpeckers Center for Investigative Environmental Journalism broke the story and brought it to the attention of the general public and other media outlets. Stories can be found here, here and here.)

This proposed mine is putting environmental legislation to the test, and the ministers of the environment and mining joined forces to sign off on the project. Civil society and many in the interested public were outraged. Moving forward, it will be telling how the Department of Environmental Affairs, especially, chooses to engage with the public.

I have written two stories about this, and the topic is far and away my most shared and has caused the most engagement from readers. Thanks for engaging, as well, and more to come.
Sharp sharp,
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Mark
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Photo  of  the  Week:  Waste

1/15/2017

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Picture
Eita,

I argue that environmental journalists have just about the toughest time of any beat properly telling stories. How do you encapsulate all the intricacy and importance of something on the scale of climate change or mine closure in black and white words, especially when the impacts are often long-term? How do you include proper multimedia? Shoot a photo of a speck of dust?

Over the past three years, photography has become more and more integral to my work. In my writing, I am constantly on the lookout for the human facets of my stories, but photos do something that words simply can't. Daily, I am pushed to find creative frames for this reason. Shot from a helicopter, this particular image shows workers on a massive tailings pile on the Far West Rand.

Sharp sharp,
Mark
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Photo  of  the  Week:  Coal

1/4/2017

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Picture
Eita,

Residents of the Masakhane village in Mpumalanga must cope with the constant presence of an adjacent coal field that feeds the nearby Duvha Power Station. One woman who lives in the outside line of homes pictured here told me that she used to be the third row in before the coal field was expanded. Across the province of Mpumalanga, coal mines and coal-fired power stations are a major factor in daily life, both as a form of employment as well as of pollution.

Sharp sharp,
Mark
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    Mark Olalde

    I was a freelance journalist, previously based in South Africa, where I reported on the related industries of mining and energy production.

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