Striking Photos Examining the Impact of Western E-Waste on the World

By Tom Hawking

April 6, 2015

Long-time Flavorwire readers and/or lovers of photography might remember the marvelous Pieter Hugo’s stunning, nightmarish photos of Agbobloshie Market in Ghana, where Western e-waste (computers, cellphones, tablets, etc) is burned and stripped for copper and other valuable metals. Hugo’s photos have meant that Agbobloshie has become reasonably well-known, but it’s hardly the only such facility around the world. In a project called Bit Rot, Italian photographer Valentino Bellini has set out to document the global impact of e-waste, and the resultant images — which we saw at Featureshoot, where there’s also an interview with the photogrpaher — are just as striking and depressing as Hugo’s iconic work. Click through to check out a selection, and look at Valentino’s website for more of his work.