Danger and dignity in some of the world’s vanishing trades – a photo essay
For a moment, the workers disappear in the clouds of dust that billow across the white limestone plains as the old circular saws they handle cut through rock in a deafening noise.
Every day thousands of men and boys, some as young as 12, travel in the back of pickup trucks to the limestones quarries of Al-Minya, about 300km (186 miles) south of Cairo in Egypt. They slice the limestone into bricks by pushing the machines with saws across the lunar landscape.
The old equipment is unsafe and the work is extremely dangerous. Wearing scarves and sunglasses to protect themselves from the dust, many workers have respiratory diseases and complain of severe eye pain. In the summer, the temperature in the quarries can reach 50C.
Workers cut limestone in the quarry in Al-Minya, Egypt
A worker covered in white dust from the limestone
“There are regular accidents. Some men have lost arms, legs and their lives,” says the French photographer Lucien Migné, who travelled to the quarries in 2022. The workers “are aware of the risks, but they feel they don’t have a choice”. The limestone quarries are the main source of employment in the region. Workers can earn up to 120 Egyptian pounds (£3) a day, but risk paying the price with their lives.
From Egypt and Ethiopia to Bangladesh, Migné’s work tells the stories of forgotten and marginalised people, whose livelihoods have remained unchanged by the rapid computerisation of society.
Migné focuses on what he describes as “feudal” power dynamics between the world’s rich and poor, which come to the fore in how people work. “It’s about shedding light on these working conditions with the idea that the photos can perhaps empower someone to act.”
Throughout his reportage, Migné says he has been “astonished” by stories of human resilience in the face of strenuous, insecure and low-paid work.
A man recycles aluminium into discs for use in bowls and plates, in Cairo
Zabbaleen workers pile paper and cardboard waste to load into a compressor
In the Manshiet Nasser district of Cairo, a Coptic Christian community has been collecting, sorting and recycling the city’s waste for nearly a century. Known as Zabbaleen, which means literally “garbage people” in Egyptian Arabic, the group are stigmatised for their religion and their work, and many live in extreme poverty.
And yet, the Zabbaleen have created one of the most efficient waste recycling systems in the world – providing one of Africa’s most populous cities with a critical service. Women sort the waste while men recycle materials in informal, family-run workshops. The city produces waste faster than the Zabbaleen can process it and the work continues through the night. Many have respiratory diseases, probably caused by the toxic fumes given off when plastic is melted into small pellets that can be reused.
“It’s gruelling and backbreaking work. But people aren’t complaining. Like in every job, people talk and laugh,” says Migné. “I found that people lived in great dignity. They consider what they do a job like any other. As long as there’s a job to do, then it’s good to take.”
Farm workers prepare the hay near the Dubuluk camp in Ethiopia
In Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, Migné met people struggling to survive after two years of war and a year of fragile peace.
More than 1 million people remain displaced by the conflict. Smallholder farmers have lost their crops, livestock and sources of income because of the war. “I have seen people dying of hunger,” he says. “People here want the world to notice them.”
In the Gheralta mountains, Leter Kidam sows teff seeds. She doesn’t have enough money to buy fertilisers and expects a poor yield. Her daughters have to help her work the land if they are going to have anything to eat. “Here, if