In Gafsa, a phosphate mining region in the southwest of Tunisia, a state-controlled company called CPG extracts phosphate from the hills. Mining is an important economic resource to the Tunisian economy, and it has been practiced since Roman times. The phosphate mining now accounts for nearly 4 percent of the GDP. The local mining villages of Redayef, Mettlaoui, and Oumm Laarayes are rich in resources but marginalized by the government. They remain poor and polluted - a conduit for wealth. Meanwhile, coastal towns prosper. Workers lured from Libya, Morocco, Algeria, and around Tunisia live on this nearly uninhabitable land. Ethnic divisions, exacerbated by life in a harsh landscape, have produced disharmony between the people and nature. These incompatible parts remain in a state of constant flux and volatility. This is my testimony of the harshness of the place, balanced, I hope, by the humor of the inhabitants and my affection for them.
A mountain close to a phosphate mine in Mittlaoui.
جبل بمقربة منجم الفوسفات بمتلوي.
Estuary of evacuated chemical waste in Mittlaoui.
مصب نفايات كيمائية تُنزح من متلوي.
A crack in a local government building.
صدع في أحد جدران مبنى حكومي محلي.
An ex-phospate mine worker in Mittlaoui.
عامل منجم فوسفات سابق في متلوي.
This railway transports phosphate from villages to the chemical factory in the Gulf of Tunisia.
خط سكك حديدية لنقل الفوسفات من القرى إلى المصنع في خليج تونس.
Construction of a road in the village of Gafsa.
شق طريق في قرية قفصة.
Sidi Abou Ali, a holy man, performs the rite of exorcism in the Nafta mausoleum.
سيدي أبو علي، وهو ولي صالح، يطرد الجن في مقام نفطه.
A train in Redayef transporting phosphate.
قطار في الرديّف ينقل الفوسفات.
Chatt Essalam chemical waste is evacuated in the sea.
نفايات كيميائية تُنزح في البحر عند شط السلام.
Walls of a kitchen in the town of Mittlaoui destroyed by a mine explosion.
حوائط مطبخ في قرية متلوي دمرها تفجير في أحد المناجم.
An old underground mine in Redayef.
منجم تحت الأرض في الرديّف.
Industrial construction in Oumm Laarayes.
بناء صناعي في أم العرايس.
A weekly explosion at the mine site in Mittlaoui.
تفجير أسبوعي في موقع أحد المناجم في متلوي.
Chatt Essalam chemical waste evacuated in the sea.
نفايات كيميائية تُنزح في البحر عند شط السلام.
A man playing with his donkey in Sagdoud.
رجل يلهو مع حماره في سقدود.
The ground near the chemical manufacturing plant in Chatt Essalam.
الأرض بالقرب من مصنع للمواد الكيميائية في شط السلام.
A boy plays with a refrigerator near the chemical plant in Chatt Essalam.
صبي يلهو بالبرّاد قرب مصنع للمواد الكيميائية في شط السلام.
Amara was a freedom fighter against the French occupation in Mittlaoui.
أمارة هي مناضلة ضد الاحتلال الفرنسي في متلوي.
The chemical manufacturing plant in Chatt Essalam.
من مصنع للمواد الكيميائية في شط السلام.
Rocks from the phosphate mine are used for building houses.
تستخدم الأحجار المستخرجة من مناجم الفوسفات في بناء المنازل.
Traces of birds close to the chemical manufacture in Chatt Essalam.
آثار لطيور بالقرب من مصنع للمواد الكيميائية في شط السلام.
The final production of phosphate in Thelja.
الإنتاج النهائي للفوسفات في ثالجة.
Zied Ben Romdhane (b. 1981, Tunisia) is a photojournalist and practicing artist. His recent exhibitions include Views of Tunisia (Arles 2013), After the Revolution (White Box, NY 2013), and Zones d?Attente (Clark House, Bombay 2013), kushti (maison de la tunisie, Paris 2013), fotofest biennieal in Houston Center for Photography (Houston, USA 2014), Sahel (1x1 Gallery, Dubai 2014) Trace (MUCEM, Maeseille 2015), he won the POPCAP award (Afric Image, Basel, 2015). His work has been featured in Irada and D?gage. He is the DOP and producer of Sabaa Chicken (2010), and Fallega (2011), a documentary film about the Arab Spring in Tunisia. Ben Romdhane is a participant in World Press Photo?s 2013 Reporting Change initiative.
Zied Ben Romdhane (b. 1981, Tunisia) is a photojournalist and practicing artist. His recent exhibitions include Views of Tunisia (Arles 2013), After the Revolution (White Box, NY 2013), and Zones d?Attente (Clark House, Bombay 2013), kushti (maison de la tunisie, Paris 2013), fotofest biennieal in Houston Center for Photography (Houston, USA 2014), Sahel (1x1 Gallery, Dubai 2014) Trace (MUCEM, Maeseille 2015), he won the POPCAP award (Afric Image, Basel, 2015). His work has been featured in Irada and D?gage. He is the DOP and producer of Sabaa Chicken (2010), and Fallega (2011), a documentary film about the Arab Spring in Tunisia. Ben Romdhane is a participant in World Press Photo?s 2013 Reporting Change initiative.