Ryerson University News

Take a trip to a Ship Graveyard

Imagine earning $1.25 a day to wade through knee-deep mucky waters on a beach in Bangladesh, to dismantle enormous ships with little more than hand tools. This practice is conducted every day by Bangladeshi laborers who work as ship breakers. These vessels, many of which are cast-off single hull tankers, are dismantled in mostly unhealthy, hazardous and sometimes deadly conditions. Toronto, Canada-based photographer Edward Burtynsky traveled to the beaches of Chittagong, Bangladesh in 2000 and 2001 to capture on film a process few have seen before. MR/EN spoke with Burtynsky, and with his cooperations presents a selection of his photographs taken on location a ship breaking facility. – By Regina P.