RITUALS OF DIGGING

Rituals of Digging observes the act of sand mining in Dar es Salaam as both a necessary labour and a ritualistic engagement with the earth. The repetitive actions, are somewhat a poetic movement of survival and transformation. These images capture manual extraction of sand against the backdrop of an expanding city,
highlighting the paradox of progress: the very sand that builds our modern world also transforms the natural landscape and shorelines. This alteration also destabilizes the delicate balance of ecosystems. The sediment runoff and changes in water flow further degrade water quality, threatening both the survival of species and the availability of clean water for communities. These pieces serve as a question on rethinking of the cost of humanities progress on the earth.