On the night of December 3rd 1984, Bhopal became the site of the most devastating chemical disaster in industrial history. Thousands of people died immediately as poison gas leaked from a pesticide plant and formed a deadly cloud that moved through the Indian city. In retrospect Bhopal was the seminal catastrophe of globalization, as the company responsible for the leak was an Indian subsidiary of the American corporation Union Carbide, now DOW Chemical. Who would assume liability, who would care for the victims, and the survivors? Three decades later, the Bhopal disaster just won't go away. Courts in India and the United States are still dealing with the consequences of the accident, as activists around the world work to hold the guilty parties and their legal successors to account - while the latter don't feel responsible. In Old Bhopal, the ruins of the former chemical plant are still standing, and hazardous waste from the pesticide production preceding the disaster in 1984 is still contaminating soil (on which some people build houses) and groundwater (which some people drink) - while those living in New Bhopal dream of India's fragile economic miracle.

Sometimes a picture has the power to turn fate around: I began visiting Bhopal, India, in August 2009, to document the illnesses experienced by many children as a result of drinking water, contaminated by the American corporation Union Carbide - now DOW Chemical - during years of reckless operations in the city, up to the tragic ‘1984 Gas Disaster’. Living with his family in a rundown shack of bare soil and cow dung, a victim of this industrial legacy is Sachin, now 23, a young man unable walk due to a paralysis. On a fateful day, during one of my visits to his home, heavy rain began to fall. Sachin’s youngest sister Poonam, then 6, was revelling in the rain, curbing the scorching summer heat. I started taking pictures immediately: in May 2011, a frame from that propitious moment was assigned 5000 US dollars from 'The Photographers Giving Back’, in Sweden, to create and implement a plan for the wellbeing of Poonam, 15 in 2017, and designed to assist her family overcome extreme poverty. Born ‘unlucky’, with a tiny sixth toe on each foot, her father superstitiously believed she brought misfortune upon the family. After being offered the exceptional chance of helping my subjects concretely, I engaged in this 'mission' with responsibility and commitment and journalistic integrity. I soon became fascinated to witness real 'change', mental and spiritual, through this family's emotions and experiences, as our support was able to spark a newfound enthusiasm for life among us all. Now living in a home made of bricks, Poonam's fairy-tale is far from over. As she strives to become a capable, young woman, I intend to photograph her into adulthood, marriage and motherhood, alongside her family and friends. http://poonam.alexmasi.co.uk

Portraits of mothers and their disabled children. On the night of December 3rd 1984, Bhopal became the site of the most devastating chemical disaster in industrial history. Thousands of people died immediately as poison gas leaked from a pesticide plant and formed a deadly cloud that moved through the Indian city. In retrospect Bhopal was the seminal catastrophe of globalization, as the company responsible for the leak was an Indian subsidiary of the American corporation Union Carbide, now DOW Chemical. Who would assume liability, who would care for the victims, and the survivors? Three decades later, the Bhopal disaster just won't go away. Courts in India and the United States are still dealing with the consequences of the accident, as activists around the world work to hold the guilty parties and their legal successors to account - while the latter don't feel responsible. In Old Bhopal, the ruins of the former chemical plant are still standing, and hazardous waste from the pesticide production preceding the disaster in 1984 is still contaminating soil (on which some people build houses) and groundwater (which some people drink) - while those living in New Bhopal dream of India's fragile economic miracle.