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  • Two men are moving a heavy load of half-processed leather using a severed horse pulling a wooden cart to a new plant for further processing in Jajmau Industrial Area, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Knowing whether children were employed in the process is the real challenge when outsourcing leather in Kanpur.
    Kanpur_Leather_Industry_21.JPG
  • Three young men are working in a dark, dusty room where they smooth and cut leather in Jajmau Industrial Area, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Labourers use almost no protection against the cancerogenic particles generated by this industrial process.
    Kanpur_Leather_Industry_19.JPG
  • Young men are drying fresh painted leather under the Sun in front of the tannery where they work in Jajmau Industrial Area, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
    Kanpur_Leather_Industry_20.JPG
  • Moinuddin Syed, 42, the AVCC (Anti-Violence Crime Cell) second in command, is on his mobile phone giving instructions to his men during a night raid on the outskirts of the city of Karachi on their search for a kidnap suspect during a fake ransom meet up with the criminals. The AVCC is a special police unit mostly involved in anti-terrorism operations and kidnap cases.
    Protecting_Karachi_Alex_Masi_Pakista...JPG
  • Young men are dancing on stage at a Coca Cola event organised at a McDonald's fast-food restaurant on Clifton Beach, a renowned costal area near the centre of Karachi, Pakistan's main economic hub.
    Protecting_Karachi_Alex_Masi_Pakista...JPG
  • The owner of a small tannery in Jajmau Industrial Area, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, is showing the leather just painted in their unit. Arrived from somewhere else, painted by the two children I have witnessed working here, it will depart to reach other hands, and later become an item for sale. In Jajmau this is a daily reality and an intervention is needed to curb the practice.
    Kanpur_Leather_Industry_22.JPG
  • A young boy is walking on the hilltop surrounding the tannery area of Jajmau,<br />
Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, located on the most polluted stretch of the mighty Ganges River.
    Kanpur_Leather_Industry_01.JPG
  • Hamidah, 6, (Centre) is playing with a shovel while other members of the family are washing clothes or arranging morning duties, in front the cave they live since seven years, during a cold winter morning in Bamyan, central Afghanistan, an area mostly populated by Hazaras. A historically persecuted minority (15%) due to more lenient Islamic faith and characteristic 'Eastern' lineaments, Hazaras constitute the 70% of Bamyan's population.
    Bamiyan_UNESCO_63.JPG
  • Children are playing in front of an inhabited section of the cliff where once stood the two giant Buddhas of Bamyan, in central Afghanistan, an area mostly populated by Hazaras. A historically persecuted minority (15%) due to more lenient Islamic faith and characteristic 'Eastern' lineaments, Hazaras constitute the 70% of Bamyan's population.
    Bamiyan_UNESCO_59.JPG
  • A boy and his father are transporting gas cylinders with the use of donkeys in a small town on the road from Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, to the mountain village of Bamiyan, located on the Hindu Kush range. The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th century monumental statues of standing Buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamiyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, situated 230 km northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2500 meters. The statues represented the classic blended style of Gandhara art. The main bodies were hewn directly from the sandstone cliffs, but details were modelled in mud mixed with straw, coated with stucco. Amid widespread international condemnation, the smaller statues (55 and 39 meters respectively) were intentionally dynamited and destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban because they believed them to be un-Islamic idols. Once a stopping point along the Silk Road between China and the Middle East, researchers think Bamiyan was the site of monasteries housing as many as 5,000 monks during its peak as a Buddhist centre in the 6th and 7th centuries. It is now a UNESCO Heritage Site since 2003. Archaeologists from various countries across the world have been engaged in preservation, general maintenance around the site and renovation. Professor Tarzi, a notable An Afghan-born archaeologist from France, and a teacher in Strasbourg University, has been searching for a legendary 300m Sleeping Buddha statue in various sites between the original standing ones, as documented in the old account of a renowned Chinese scholar, Xuanzang, visiting the area in the 7th century. Professor Tarzi worked on projects to restore the other Bamiyan Buddhas in the late 1970s and has spent most of his career researching the existence of the missing giant Buddha in the valley.
    Bamiyan_UNESCO_Alex_Masi048.jpg
  • Recruits of the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Elite Police Training Center, a commando and anti-terrorism academy on the outskirts of Karachi, are taking part to a raid simulation exercise involving the freeing of a hostage. The training center was founded by retired colonel Abdul Wahid Khan, a brave officer who served as a gunship helicopter pilot in the Pakistani Air Force and around the globe with the United Nations, but who's first task as a young army officer in 1979 was to train Afghan Mujahedeen to fight the Soviet Army, the very Mujahedeen that are today's Taleban.
    Protecting_Karachi_Alex_Masi_Pakista...JPG
  • Recruits of the the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Elite Police Training Center, a commando and anti-terrorism academy on the outskirts of Karachi, are exercising at dawn. The training center was founded by retired colonel Abdul Wahid Khan, a brave officer who served as a gunship helicopter pilot in the Pakistani Air Force and around the globe with the United Nations, but who's first task as a young army officer in 1979 was to train Afghan Mujahedeen to fight the Soviet Army, the very Mujahedeen that are today's Taleban.
    Protecting_Karachi_Alex_Masi_Pakista...JPG
  • Professor Zemaryali Tarzi, (right) a notable An Afghan-born archaeologist from France and teacher in Strasbourg University, is portrayed discussing with one of his assistants on the excavation field where he is searching for a legendary 300m Sleeping Buddha. The statue should be located between the original two standing Buddhas, Afghanistan, as documented in the old account of a renowned Chinese scholar, Xuanzang, visiting the area in the 7th century. The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th century monumental statues of standing Buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamiyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, situated 230 km northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2500 meters. The statues represented the classic blended style of Gandhara art. The main bodies were hewn directly from the sandstone cliffs, but details were modelled in mud mixed with straw, coated with stucco. Amid widespread international condemnation, the smaller statues (55 and 39 meters respectively) were intentionally dynamited and destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban because they believed them to be un-Islamic idols. Once a stopping point along the Silk Road between China and the Middle East, researchers think Bamiyan was the site of monasteries housing as many as 5,000 monks during its peak as a Buddhist centre in the 6th and 7th centuries. It is now a UNESCO Heritage Site since 2003. Archaeologists from various countries across the world have been engaged in preservation, general maintenance around the site and renovation. Professor Tarzi worked on projects to restore the other Bamiyan Buddhas in the late 1970s and has spent most of his career researching the existence of the missing giant Buddha in the valley.
    Bamiyan_UNESCO_Alex_Masi014.JPG
  • A family home in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, has been transformed into a small-scale workshop where young girls are decorating the bracelets produced in factories nearby. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide.
    Hidden_Youth_06.jpg
  • A young girl from the village of Beghrajpur, Muzaffarnagar District, Uttar Pradesh, India, is collecting grass for her family's buffaloes from the banks of a large drain originating from the Beghrajpur Industrial Complex, mainly composed of chemical factories, a few hundred meters upstream, on Sunday, Mar. 30, 2008. The white drain, completely covered in foam, will reach the Kali river (East) in Usampur Bhopara village. At the end of its journey, the watercourse will eventually join the largest Ganges river injecting a deadly dose of pollutants into its Holy waters.
    Slow_Poison_46.JPG
  • Women are collecting water contaminated with heavy metals and pesticides from a hand-pump on the streets of Jaibheem Nagar, pop. 10000, a large slum located near the banks of the Kali river (East), Meerut District, Uttar Pradesh, India, on Sunday, Mar. 16, 2008.
    Slow_Poison_19.JPG
  • Students from the Laksha Grawha Ashram are bathing in a pool using groundwater that will later be devoted to irrigation in the village of Barnawa, pop.6000, Baghpat District, Uttar Pradesh, India, located along the banks of the severely polluted Hindon river, on Thursday, Apr. 17, 2008.
    Slow_Poison_12.JPG
  • Details of a Vampyre Connexionís member during a tour to West Norwood Cemetery on Sunday, 4 March, 2007, in London, England. The Vampyre Connexion is the largest and most active of all the vampire groups in the United Kingdom, counting more than 100 members that for years have gathered regularly in London to share their common love for vampires and the Dark side of life. The Connexion raised from the hashes of the Vampyre Society, the first vampire appreciation group in 1995. The group believe in the fantasy of vampires and such creatures and live it to the full. Its  roots are to be found in the legends of Bram Stokerís Dracula. The group prints its own magazine, ëDark Nightsí featuring drawings, poetry, stories, photography and events. All of the members dress very peculiar clothing, and this is a very important part of the life of the group; it is respected with pride, taste and accuracy for the detail. Most like to dress to be elegant in a range of styles from regency to Victorian, some sew their own. In addition members visit art galleries, cemeteries, churches and cathedrals, attend gigs and concerts, and hold their own parties throughout the year, Halloween being the biggest and scariest one. Membership is open to all, the only qualification: being a love of all things Vampyric. **ItalyOut**
    VampiresLondon08.JPG
  • A young man is providing information about lubricants to a couple of visitors by one of the exhibitors' stands at the Erotica 2006 show in London, UK, on Friday, Nov. 17, 2006. Erotica is the world's largest adult lifestyle show. It attracts about 80,000 visitors every year with its over 150 retailer exhibitors, dazzling and decadent transvestite cabaret shows, fun foreplay seminars, beautiful lingerie collections, art and fetish demonstrations. **Italy Out**
    Erotica17.JPG
  • The famous pin-up star, and wife of Marilyn Manson, Dita Von Teese is posing on stage at the Erotica 2006 show in London, UK, on Friday, Nov. 17, 2006. Erotica is the world's largest adult lifestyle show. It attracts about 80,000 visitors every year with its over 150 retailer exhibitors, dazzling and decadent transvestite cabaret shows, fun foreplay seminars, beautiful lingerie collections, art and fetish demonstrations. **Italy Out**
    Erotica05.JPG
  • A group of slum dwellers on the hills surrounding the tannery area of Jajmau are busy collecting fresh water being provided to the colony daily by the government in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The inhabitants are complaining that too little water is provided for the large population of the area, while in case of power cuts, a very common event in Kanpur, the pumping station can shut down completely for days at the time. Rows and arguments over water collection here are an unfortunate daily reality.
    Kanpur_Leather_Industry_41.JPG
  • A young girl from Joana, pop. 1800, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, is standing in front of her house. The inhabitants of the village are affected by the wastewater originated from the nearby Jajmau Industrial Area, the largest leather producing hub in India, discharging directly into the holy Ganges River.
    Kanpur_Leather_Industry_40.JPG
  • A young woman is covering her eyes during a sandstorm, in the heavily polluted city of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, the largest leather production hub in India.
    Kanpur_Leather_Industry_38.JPG
  • A worker in one of the tannery units within the industrial area of Jajmau, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, is pulling a large piece of leather from a chromium bath, where the skin has had hair and impurities removed in a process called liming, to be dried outside the factory.
    Kanpur_Leather_Industry_17.JPG
  • An elder and a young boy are using their bare hands to collect skins from a bath of contaminated water during the process of liming, removing hair and impurities with the use of various agents, in an illegal tannery unit located within the industrial area of Jajmau, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
    Kanpur_Leather_Industry_12.JPG
  • A young boy is removing contaminated water from a bath after the process of liming, the removal of hair and impurities with the use of water and various agents, in an illegal tannery unit inside Jajmau, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Children are largely employed to work on scraps, or little pieces of skin, like the head and the ears of the animal, which will become a small bag, a wallet, or maybe a cheap phone leather case.
    Kanpur_Leather_Industry_10.JPG
  • A young boy is collecting skins from a bath during the process of liming, the removal of hair and impurities with the use of water and various agents, in an illegal tannery unit inside Jajmau, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Children are largely employed to work on scraps, or little pieces of skin, like the head and the ears of the animal, which will become a small bag, a wallet, or maybe a cheap phone leather case.
    Kanpur_Leather_Industry_08.JPG
  • Villages are photographed from the air while travelling over the Hidu Kush range between Kabul and Bamyan, central Afghanistan, an area mostly populated by Hazaras. A historically persecuted minority (15%) due to more lenient Islamic faith and characteristic 'Eastern' lineaments, Hazaras constitute the 70% of Bamyan's population.
    Bamiyan_UNESCO_71.JPG
  • Milad, 2, is portrayed during a snowy winter morning in front of the cave where he lives with his family since seven years, in Bamyan, central Afghanistan, an area mostly populated by Hazaras. A historically persecuted minority (15%) due to more lenient Islamic faith and characteristic 'Eastern' lineaments, Hazaras constitute the 70% of Bamyan's population.
    Bamiyan_UNESCO_65.JPG
  • Fatemah, 12, is walking near the cave where she lives with her family since seven years, during a cold winter morning in Bamyan, central Afghanistan, an area mostly populated by Hazaras. A historically persecuted minority (15%) due to more lenient Islamic faith and characteristic 'Eastern' lineaments, Hazaras constitute the 70% of Bamyan's population.
    Bamiyan_UNESCO_62.JPG
  • Maryam, 38, (Left) is sitting near the wood stove inside her family cave along two of her young daughters, Halemah, 9, (Centre) and Hamidah, 6, (Right) during the late afternoon hours when it is too cold to be spending time outside, in Bamyan, central Afghanistan, an area mostly populated by Hazaras. A historically persecuted minority (15%) due to more lenient Islamic faith and characteristic 'Eastern' lineaments, Hazaras constitute the 70% of Bamyan's population.
    Bamiyan_UNESCO_53.JPG
  • The unrecognised village of Wadi el Na'am, pop. 4000, is located in close proximity to the Israel Electric Company, in BeerSheva, the capital of the Negev, a large deserted area in the south of Israel. Wadi el Na'am is located near a large industrial site, Ramat Hovav, and has no infrastructure or electric energy. Water is provided only via storage tanks. It has no health services as the only clinic is deemed illegal and bound to be demolished, as the rest of the structures in the area. Numbering around 200.000 in Israel, the Bedouins constitute the native ethnic group of these areas, they farm, grow wheat, olives and live in complete self sufficiency. Many of them were in these lands long before the Israeli State was created and their traditional lifestyle is now threatened by subtle Governmental policies. The seven Bedouin towns already built are all between the 10 more impoverished towns in Israel. .
    Bedouin_Negev_Israel_03.JPG
  • An Afghan man is carrying a papaya on the streets of Bamiyan's new bazaar. The cliff where once stood the Western Buddha (55m - 'Male') is photographed after sunset in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, an area mostly populated by Hazaras. The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th century monumental statues of standing Buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamiyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, situated 230 km northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2500 meters. The statues represented the classic blended style of Gandhara art. The main bodies were hewn directly from the sandstone cliffs, but details were modelled in mud mixed with straw, coated with stucco. Amid widespread international condemnation, the smaller statues (55 and 39 meters respectively) were intentionally dynamited and destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban because they believed them to be un-Islamic idols. Once a stopping point along the Silk Road between China and the Middle East, researchers think Bamiyan was the site of monasteries housing as many as 5,000 monks during its peak as a Buddhist centre in the 6th and 7th centuries. It is now a UNESCO Heritage Site since 2003. Archaeologists from various countries across the world have been engaged in preservation, general maintenance around the site and renovation. Professor Tarzi, a notable An Afghan-born archaeologist from France, and a teacher in Strasbourg University, has been searching for a legendary 300m Sleeping Buddha statue in various sites between the original standing ones, as documented in the old account of a renowned Chinese scholar, Xuanzang, visiting the area in the 7th century. Professor Tarzi worked on projects to restore the other Bamiyan Buddhas in the late 1970s and has spent most of his career researching the existence of the missing giant Buddha in the valley.
    Bamiyan_UNESCO_Alex_Masi049.jpg
  • A member of the AVCC (Anti-Violence Crime Cell) is portrayed while at their headquarters in Karachi, Pakistan. The AVCC is a special police unit mostly involved in anti-terrorism operations and kidnap cases in the city and its vicinity.
    Protecting_Karachi_Alex_Masi_Pakista...JPG
  • A member of the AVCC (Anti-Violence Crime Cell) is portrayed while at their headquarters in Karachi, Pakistan. The AVCC is a special police unit mostly involved in anti-terrorism operations and kidnap cases in the city and its vicinity.
    Protecting_Karachi_Alex_Masi_Pakista...JPG
  • A kidnap suspect (center) is being questioned by two members of the AVCC, (Anti-Violence Crime Cell) a special police unit mostly involved in anti-terrorism operations and kidnap cases in the city of Karachi, Pakistan's main economic hub.
    Protecting_Karachi_Alex_Masi_Pakista...JPG
  • Members of the AVCC, (Anti-Violence Crime Cell) a special police unit mostly involved in anti-terrorism operations and kidnapping cases in the city of Karachi, are collecting their weapons from the AVCC armory in central Karachi in preparation of a night raid on the outskirts of the city searching for a kidnap suspect.
    Protecting_Karachi_Alex_Masi_Pakista...JPG
  • A member of the AVCC, (Anti-Violence Crime Cell) a special police unit mostly involved in anti-terrorism operations and kidnapping cases in the city of Karachi, is loading his Pakistani made G3 assault rifle in preparation of a night raid on the outskirts of the city searching for a kidnap suspect.
    Protecting_Karachi_Alex_Masi_Pakista...JPG
  • High-rise buildings mainly housing expensive apartments and shopping malls have grown very rapidly in Pakistan's main economic and financial hub, Karachi, under the recent leadership of Syed Mustafa Kamal, its mayor. Mr Kamal, 36, who was short-listed for the 2010 World Mayor Prize, is courting foreign investment, encouraging international ties, and boosting the city's tourism.
    Protecting_Karachi_Alex_Masi_Pakista...JPG
  • Members of the Karachi Police are routinely patrolling the streets of the financial area of the city.
    Protecting_Karachi_Alex_Masi_Pakista...JPG
  • Two suspected kidnappers are being questioned on the spot inside a police car by members of the AVCC (Anti-Violence Crime Cell) and by the local police force in Thatta, on the outskirts of Karachi, while on his search for a hostage during a fake ransom meet up with the criminals. The AVCC is a special police unit mostly involved in anti-terrorism operations and kidnap cases.
    Protecting_Karachi_Alex_Masi_Pakista...JPG
  • Recruits of the the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Elite Police Training Center, a commando and anti-terrorism academy on the outskirts of Karachi, are exercising and simulating extreme actions on a high tower located on the premises. The training center was founded by retired colonel Abdul Wahid Khan, a brave officer who served as a gunship helicopter pilot in the Pakistani Air Force and around the globe with the United Nations, but who's first task as a young army officer in 1979 was to train Afghan Mujahedeen to fight the Soviet Army, the very Mujahedeen that are today's Taleban.
    Protecting_Karachi_Alex_Masi_Pakista...JPG
  • A Japanese woman belonging to the maintenance and restoration team in Bamiyan is working on emergency fixtures on the walls of an ancient Buddhist cave on the premises of the archaeological site. The Japanese team of experts has been visiting the town for various years to find a long-term solution to its slow but unceasing disappearance. The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th century monumental statues of standing Buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamiyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, situated 230 km northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2500 meters. The statues represented the classic blended style of Gandhara art. The main bodies were hewn directly from the sandstone cliffs, but details were modelled in mud mixed with straw, coated with stucco. Amid widespread international condemnation, the smaller statues (55 and 39 meters respectively) were intentionally dynamited and destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban because they believed them to be un-Islamic idols. Once a stopping point along the Silk Road between China and the Middle East, researchers think Bamiyan was the site of monasteries housing as many as 5,000 monks during its peak as a Buddhist centre in the 6th and 7th centuries. It is now a UNESCO Heritage Site since 2003. Archaeologists from various countries across the world have been engaged in preservation, general maintenance around the site and renovation. Professor Tarzi, a notable An Afghan-born archaeologist from France, and a teacher in Strasbourg University, has been searching for a legendary 300m Sleeping Buddha statue in various sites between the original standing ones, as documented in the old account of a renowned Chinese scholar, Xuanzang, visiting the area in the 7th century. Professor Tarzi worked on projects to restore the other Bamiyan Buddhas in the late 1970s and has spent most of his career researching the existence of the missing giant Buddha in the valley.
    Bamiyan_UNESCO_Alex_Masi030.JPG
  • Old, unusable tanks left in Bamiyan after the Russian invasion of Afghanistan are being enveloped by growing weeds while sitting as relics in what has become a field for cultivating potatoes. The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th century monumental statues of standing Buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamiyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, situated 230 km northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2500 meters. The statues represented the classic blended style of Gandhara art. The main bodies were hewn directly from the sandstone cliffs, but details were modelled in mud mixed with straw, coated with stucco. Amid widespread international condemnation, the smaller statues (55 and 39 meters respectively) were intentionally dynamited and destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban because they believed them to be un-Islamic idols. Once a stopping point along the Silk Road between China and the Middle East, researchers think Bamiyan was the site of monasteries housing as many as 5,000 monks during its peak as a Buddhist centre in the 6th and 7th centuries. It is now a UNESCO Heritage Site since 2003. Archaeologists from various countries across the world have been engaged in preservation, general maintenance around the site and renovation. Professor Tarzi, a notable An Afghan-born archaeologist from France, and a teacher in Strasbourg University, has been searching for a legendary 300m Sleeping Buddha statue in various sites between the original standing ones, as documented in the old account of a renowned Chinese scholar, Xuanzang, visiting the area in the 7th century. Professor Tarzi worked on projects to restore the other Bamiyan Buddhas in the late 1970s and has spent most of his career researching the existence of the missing giant Buddha in the valley.
    Bamiyan_UNESCO_Alex_Masi026.JPG
  • A villager is harvesting wheat in one of the fields located next to the Buddhas of Bamiyan's archaeological site. The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th century monumental statues of standing Buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamiyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, situated 230 km northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2500 meters. The statues represented the classic blended style of Gandhara art. The main bodies were hewn directly from the sandstone cliffs, but details were modelled in mud mixed with straw, coated with stucco. Amid widespread international condemnation, the smaller statues (55 and 39 meters respectively) were intentionally dynamited and destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban because they believed them to be un-Islamic idols. Once a stopping point along the Silk Road between China and the Middle East, researchers think Bamiyan was the site of monasteries housing as many as 5,000 monks during its peak as a Buddhist centre in the 6th and 7th centuries. It is now a UNESCO Heritage Site since 2003. Archaeologists from various countries across the world have been engaged in preservation, general maintenance around the site and renovation. Professor Tarzi, a notable An Afghan-born archaeologist from France, and a teacher in Strasbourg University, has been searching for a legendary 300m Sleeping Buddha statue in various sites between the original standing ones, as documented in the old account of a renowned Chinese scholar, Xuanzang, visiting the area in the 7th century. Professor Tarzi worked on projects to restore the other Bamiyan Buddhas in the late 1970s and has spent most of his career researching the existence of the missing giant Buddha in the valley.
    Bamiyan_UNESCO_Alex_Masi027.JPG
  • An Afghan child is carrying flowers through a field in Bamiyan, a small Afghan town mostly populated by Hazaras. The cliff where once stood the Western Buddha (55m - 'Male') is photographed after sunset in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, an area mostly populated by Hazaras. The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th century monumental statues of standing Buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamiyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, situated 230 km northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2500 meters. The statues represented the classic blended style of Gandhara art. The main bodies were hewn directly from the sandstone cliffs, but details were modelled in mud mixed with straw, coated with stucco. Amid widespread international condemnation, the smaller statues (55 and 39 meters respectively) were intentionally dynamited and destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban because they believed them to be un-Islamic idols. Once a stopping point along the Silk Road between China and the Middle East, researchers think Bamiyan was the site of monasteries housing as many as 5,000 monks during its peak as a Buddhist centre in the 6th and 7th centuries. It is now a UNESCO Heritage Site since 2003. Archaeologists from various countries across the world have been engaged in preservation, general maintenance around the site and renovation. Professor Tarzi, a notable An Afghan-born archaeologist from France, and a teacher in Strasbourg University, has been searching for a legendary 300m Sleeping Buddha statue in various sites between the original standing ones, as documented in the old account of a renowned Chinese scholar, Xuanzang, visiting the area in the 7th century. Professor Tarzi worked on projects to restore the other Bamiyan Buddhas in the late 1970s and has spent most of his career researching the existence of the missing giant Buddha in the valley.
    Bamiyan_UNESCO_Alex_Masi039.JPG
  • Professor Zemaryali Tarzi, (left) a notable An Afghan-born archaeologist from France and teacher in Strasbourg University, is portrayed on his excavation field while searching for a legendary 300m Sleeping Buddha statue between the original standing Buddhas of Bamiyan, Afghanistan, as documented in the old account of a renowned Chinese scholar, Xuanzang, visiting the area in the 7th century. The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th century monumental statues of standing Buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamiyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, situated 230 km northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2500 meters. The statues represented the classic blended style of Gandhara art. The main bodies were hewn directly from the sandstone cliffs, but details were modelled in mud mixed with straw, coated with stucco. Amid widespread international condemnation, the smaller statues (55 and 39 meters respectively) were intentionally dynamited and destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban because they believed them to be un-Islamic idols. Once a stopping point along the Silk Road between China and the Middle East, researchers think Bamiyan was the site of monasteries housing as many as 5,000 monks during its peak as a Buddhist centre in the 6th and 7th centuries. It is now a UNESCO Heritage Site since 2003. Archaeologists from various countries across the world have been engaged in preservation, general maintenance around the site and renovation. Professor Tarzi worked on projects to restore the other Bamiyan Buddhas in the late 1970s and has spent most of his career researching the existence of the missing giant Buddha in the valley.
    Bamiyan_UNESCO_Alex_Masi003.JPG
  • A young boy is riding his donkey home after having collected water water from a small river in Bamyan, Afghanistan. In the town there is no electricity or running water. Power is only being provided by generators or solar panels. The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th century monumental statues of standing Buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamiyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, situated 230 km northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2500 meters. The statues represented the classic blended style of Gandhara art. The main bodies were hewn directly from the sandstone cliffs, but details were modelled in mud mixed with straw, coated with stucco. Amid widespread international condemnation, the smaller statues (55 and 39 meters respectively) were intentionally dynamited and destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban because they believed them to be un-Islamic idols. Once a stopping point along the Silk Road between China and the Middle East, researchers think Bamiyan was the site of monasteries housing as many as 5,000 monks during its peak as a Buddhist centre in the 6th and 7th centuries. It is now a UNESCO Heritage Site since 2003. Archaeologists from various countries across the world have been engaged in preservation, general maintenance around the site and renovation. Professor Tarzi, a notable An Afghan-born archaeologist from France, and a teacher in Strasbourg University, has been searching for a legendary 300m Sleeping Buddha statue in various sites between the original standing ones, as documented in the old account of a renowned Chinese scholar, Xuanzang, visiting the area in the 7th century. Professor Tarzi worked on projects to restore the other Bamiyan Buddhas in the late 1970s and has spent most of his career researching the existence of the missing giant Buddha in the valley.
    Bamiyan_UNESCO_Alex_Masi009.JPG
  • Youngsters on the streets of the impoverished neighbourhood of Heideveld, Cape Town, RSA. Here showing Marijuana worth 50 Rands (about 50 pence). With extremely high rates of unemployment, poor resources and too little authority control, ghettos as Heideveld are the best places for gangs to grow in activity and businesses. Targeting mostly young people from their area to carry on the ?dirty job?, gangs in the Western Cape, and South Africa are an endemic problem in continuous increase in the years after the radical apartheid governmental system. ?Coloured? communities have lost almost all their help from a government that now is concentrated on empowering black communities instead. Segregated into ghettos and without state grants or development activities, people in these community are sometimes forced to join a gang or dealing drugs also to provide for their own family. Young gangster are also used for the worst crimes by the fact that, being still under 18 years old, they would face shorter sentences if caught. Drug abuse between kids as young as 12 is not uncommon, especially crystal meth, mandrax and marijuana.
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  • Boxes containing bracelets are photographed at a local street market in Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide.
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  • A man is transporting unfinished glass bracelets from a house to another one on the road connecting two sections of the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide.
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  • A young girl is joining is joining bracelets with the use of a gas flame inside her home transformed into a small-scale workshop in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in  Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide.
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  • A young boy is moving bundles of just painted glass bracelets inside a house transformed into a small-scale workshop in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide.
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  • A family home in the slum surrounding Firozabad, renowned as the 'glass city', in  Uttar Pradesh, northern India, has been transformed into a small-scale workshop where young boys and girls are aligning the ends of bracelets produced in coils by factories nearby. Due to extreme poverty, over 20.000 young children are employed to complete the bracelets produced in the industrial units. This area is considered to be one of the highest concentrations of child labour on the planet. Forced to work to support their disadvantaged families, children as young as five are paid between 30-40 Indian Rupees (approx. 0.50 EUR) for eight or more hours of work daily. Most of these children are not able to receive an education and are easily prey of the labour-poverty cycle which has already enslaved their families to a life of exploitation. Children have to sit in crouched positions, use solvents, glues, kerosene and various other dangerous materials while breathing toxic fumes and spending most time of the day in dark, harmful environments. As for India's Child Labour Act of 1986, children under 14 are banned from working in industries deemed 'hazardous' but the rules are widely flouted, and prosecutions, when they happen at all, get bogged down in courts for lengthy periods. A ban on child labour without creating alternative opportunities for the local population is the central problem to the Indian Government's approach to the social issue affecting over 50 million children nationwide.
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  • Residents of Jaibheem Nagar, pop. 10000, a large slum located near the banks of the Kali river (East), Meerut District, Uttar Pradesh, India, are showing the contaminated yellow-coloured water from one of the hand-pumps many residents use as the only source for drinking and washing, on Sunday, Mar. 16, 2008.
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  • Doli, 5, (middle) from the village of Barnawa, pop.6000, Baghpat District, Uttar Pradesh, India, located along the banks of the severely polluted Hindon river, is shaking in the arms of her father, on Wednesday, Apr. 2, 2008. Doli is affected by a neurological disorder since birth. Doctors believe her condition to be associated to water contaminated with alarming levels of pesticides and heavy metals the family is drinking on an everyday basis. Her skull is underdeveloped and she has serious cognitive limitations that have left her unable to frequent school or carry on any sort of educational activity. The family is now using a nearby governmental hand-pump that provides better quality water in comparison to the 20ft deep private one they priory used.
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  • A young agricultural labourer is harvesting wheat in a field near the village of Shamli, pop. 1500, Saharanpur District, Uttar Pradesh, India, located dangerously near to Shamli Paper Mill, (visible in the background) a large industry discharging untreated wastewaters a few steps away from the field, on Friday, Apr. 18, 2008. Feru, 70, the owner of the field is forced to feed its crops water from the mill's drain. "We own this land since more than 200 years, while this factory was erected in 1981," he adds, "we filed many complains to the MP offices in both Meerut and Lucknow but nobody in the government listens to us. We are not important to them." He also laments that "the soil is becoming defective, and so are our crops whose yield is diminishing year after year."
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  • Sakib, 7, from the Patanpura Colony, Saharanphur District, is leading his buffalo out of the Dhamola river, a severely polluted small-size watercourse, in reality more similar to a drain, that joins the Hindon river a few kilometres downstream, on Friday, Apr. 18, 2008. Sakib regularly comes here with his family to wash their buffaloes and provide them water to drink, unaware of the consequences the contamination could have on himself and his animals.
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  • Jenny, 62, the extravagant wife of Colin, the Vampyre Master, portrayed at her make-up table in her bedroom on Sunday, 29 June, 2007, in South London, England. The Vampyre Connexion is the largest and most active of all the vampire groups in the United Kingdom, counting more than 100 members that for years have gathered regularly in London to share their common love for vampires and the Dark side of life. The Connexion raised from the hashes of the Vampyre Society, the first vampire appreciation group in 1995. The group believe in the fantasy of vampires and such creatures and live it to the full. Its  roots are to be found in the legends of Bram Stokerís Dracula. The group prints its own magazine, ëDark Nightsí featuring drawings, poetry, stories, photography and events. All of the members dress very peculiar clothing, and this is a very important part of the life of the group; it is respected with pride, taste and accuracy for the detail. Most like to dress to be elegant in a range of styles from regency to Victorian, some sew their own. In addition members visit art galleries, cemeteries, churches and cathedrals, attend gigs and concerts, and hold their own parties throughout the year, Halloween being the biggest and scariest one. Membership is open to all, the only qualification: being a love of all things Vampyric. **ItalyOut**
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  • Vampyre gadgets and books are exposed on a shelf in Cecileís living room, in Camden Town, London, England, on Sunday, 10 June, 2007. The Vampyre Connexion is the largest and most active of all the vampire groups in the United Kingdom, counting more than 100 members that for years have gathered regularly in London to share their common love for vampires and the Dark side of life. The Connexion raised from the hashes of the Vampyre Society, the first vampire appreciation group in 1995. The group believe in the fantasy of vampires and such creatures and live it to the full. Its  roots are to be found in the legends of Bram Stokerís Dracula. The group prints its own magazine, ëDark Nightsí featuring drawings, poetry, stories, photography and events. All of the members dress very peculiar clothing, and this is a very important part of the life of the group; it is respected with pride, taste and accuracy for the detail. Most like to dress to be elegant in a range of styles from regency to Victorian, some sew their own. In addition members visit art galleries, cemeteries, churches and cathedrals, attend gigs and concerts, and hold their own parties throughout the year, Halloween being the biggest and scariest one. Membership is open to all, the only qualification: being a love of all things Vampyric.**ItalyOut**
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  • Pictures of Cecileís graduation and master degree are hanging from the wall in her living room on Sunday, 10 June, 2006, in Camden Town, London, England. Cecile, 31, a French woman from Avignon, lives in London since 14 years and is one of the members in the Vampyre Connexion committee. The Vampyre Connexion is the largest and most active of all the vampire groups in the United Kingdom, counting more than 100 members that for years have gathered regularly in London to share their common love for vampires and the Dark side of life. The Connexion raised from the hashes of the Vampyre Society, the first vampire appreciation group in 1995. The group believe in the fantasy of vampires and such creatures and live it to the full. Its  roots are to be found in the legends of Bram Stokerís Dracula. The group prints its own magazine, ëDark Nightsí featuring drawings, poetry, stories, photography and events. All of the members dress very peculiar clothing, and this is a very important part of the life of the group; it is respected with pride, taste and accuracy for the detail. Most like to dress to be elegant in a range of styles from regency to Victorian, some sew their own. In addition members visit art galleries, cemeteries, churches and cathedrals, attend gigs and concerts, and hold their own parties throughout the year, Halloween being the biggest and scariest one. Membership is open to all, the only qualification: being a love of all things Vampyric.**ItalyOut**
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  • Sonia Siccardi, 28, the singer of the Theatres des Vampires, a Gothic music group, is walking off the stage at the end of the concert at the Slimelight, an exclusive Goth club in London during a night organised by the Vampyre Connexion, on Saturday, 3 February, 2007, in London, England. The Vampyre Connexion is the largest and most active of all the vampire groups in the United Kingdom, counting more than 100 members that for years have gathered regularly in London to share their common love for vampires and the Dark side of life. The Connexion raised from the hashes of the Vampyre Society, the first vampire appreciation group in 1995. The group believe in the fantasy of vampires and such creatures and live it to the full. Its  roots are to be found in the legends of Bram Stokerís Dracula. The group prints its own magazine, ëDark Nightsí featuring drawings, poetry, stories, photography and events. All of the members dress very peculiar clothing, and this is a very important part of the life of the group; it is respected with pride, taste and accuracy for the detail. Most like to dress to be elegant in a range of styles from regency to Victorian, some sew their own. In addition members visit art galleries, cemeteries, churches and cathedrals, attend gigs and concerts, and hold their own parties throughout the year, Halloween being the biggest and scariest one. Membership is open to all, the only qualification: being a love of all things Vampyric.**ItalyOut**
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  • Emma Smith, 21, is sitting on a sofa in Cecileís living room on Sunday, 15 October, 2006, in Camden Town, London, England. The Vampyre Connexion is the largest and most active of all the vampire groups in the United Kingdom, counting more than 100 members that for years have gathered regularly in London to share their common love for vampires and the Dark side of life. The Connexion raised from the hashes of the Vampyre Society, the first vampire appreciation group in 1995. The group believe in the fantasy of vampires and such creatures and live it to the full. Its  roots are to be found in the legends of Bram Stokerís Dracula. The group prints its own magazine, ëDark Nightsí featuring drawings, poetry, stories, photography and events. All of the members dress very peculiar clothing, and this is a very important part of the life of the group; it is respected with pride, taste and accuracy for the detail. Most like to dress to be elegant in a range of styles from regency to Victorian, some sew their own. In addition members visit art galleries, cemeteries, churches and cathedrals, attend gigs and concerts, and hold their own parties throughout the year, Halloween being the biggest and scariest one. Membership is open to all, the only qualification: being a love of all things Vampyric. **ItalyOut**
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  • Emma Smith, 21, portrayed while savouring a glass of wine in Cecileís living room on Sunday, 15 October, 2006, in Camden Town, London, England. The Vampyre Connexion is the largest and most active of all the vampire groups in the United Kingdom, counting more than 100 members that for years have gathered regularly in London to share their common love for vampires and the Dark side of life. The Connexion raised from the hashes of the Vampyre Society, the first vampire appreciation group in 1995. The group believe in the fantasy of vampires and such creatures and live it to the full. Its  roots are to be found in the legends of Bram Stokerís Dracula. The group prints its own magazine, ëDark Nightsí featuring drawings, poetry, stories, photography and events. All of the members dress very peculiar clothing, and this is a very important part of the life of the group; it is respected with pride, taste and accuracy for the detail. Most like to dress to be elegant in a range of styles from regency to Victorian, some sew their own. In addition members visit art galleries, cemeteries, churches and cathedrals, attend gigs and concerts, and hold their own parties throughout the year, Halloween being the biggest and scariest one. Membership is open to all, the only qualification: being a love of all things Vampyric.  **ItalyOut**
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  • (left to right) Jonathan Aristow, 20, Darren Jack Powell, 36, both from London, and Audrey a 25-year-old French national getting ready for a cemetery tour organised by the Vampyre Connexion on Sunday, 2 December, 2006, in Nunhead Cemetery, South London, England. The Vampyre Connexion is the largest and most active of all the vampire groups in the United Kingdom, counting more than 100 members that for years have gathered regularly in London to share their common love for vampires and the Dark side of life. The Connexion raised from the hashes of the Vampyre Society, the first vampire appreciation group in 1995. The group believe in the fantasy of vampires and such creatures and live it to the full. Its  roots are to be found in the legends of Bram Stokerís Dracula. The group prints its own magazine, ëDark Nightsí featuring drawings, poetry, stories, photography and events. All of the members dress very peculiar clothing, and this is a very important part of the life of the group; it is respected with pride, taste and accuracy for the detail. Most like to dress to be elegant in a range of styles from regency to Victorian, some sew their own. In addition members visit art galleries, cemeteries, churches and cathedrals, attend gigs and concerts, and hold their own parties throughout the year, Halloween being the biggest and scariest one. Membership is open to all, the only qualification: being a love of all things Vampyric.   **ItalyOut**
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  • Japanese tattoo artist at work on a stage at the 2nd International Tattoo Convention in London on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2006, in London, UK. With over 15.000 visitors in three days during the 2005 edition, the event placed London in a central position in the tattoo world.  This year about 150 artists ,representing all the tattoo styles, are ticking away with their machines in a very exciting atmosphere. **ITALY OUT**....
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  • Portrait of one of the exhibitor at the 2nd International Tattoo Convention in London on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2006, in London, UK. With over 15.000 visitors in three days during the 2005 edition, the event placed London in a central position in the tattoo world.  This year about 150 artists ,representing all the tattoo styles, are ticking away with their machines in a very exciting atmosphere. **ITALY OUT**....
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  • Skull tattooed on the back of the head of one visitor at the 2nd International Tattoo Convention in London on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2006, in London, UK. With over 15.000 visitors in three days during the 2005 edition, the event placed London in a central position in the tattoo world.  This year about 150 artists ,representing all the tattoo styles, are ticking away with their machines in a very exciting atmosphere. **ITALY OUT**....
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  • High view of a floor at the 2nd International Tattoo Convention in London on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2006, in London, UK. With over 15.000 visitors in three days during the 2005 edition, the event placed London in a central position in the tattoo world.  This year about 150 artists ,representing all the tattoo styles, are ticking away with their machines in a very exciting atmosphere. **ITALY OUT**....
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  • Portrait of a tattoo artist selling tattoo machines at the 2nd International Tattoo Convention in London on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2006, in London, UK. With over 15.000 visitors in three days during the 2005 edition, the event placed London in a central position in the tattoo world.  This year about 150 artists ,representing all the tattoo styles, are ticking away with their machines in a very exciting atmosphere. **ITALY OUT**....
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  • Chinese artists taking part to the traditional Chinese New Year procession in Soho, London, UK, on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2005. **ITALY OUT**
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  • People waiting for the bus heading home after a long day of shopping, Oxford Street, central London, on Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2004.  **ITALY OUT**
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  • People marching during an anti-war demonstration held in central London, UK, on Saturday, March 19, 2005. **ITALY OUT**
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  • A woman is posing behind a stand selling bondage tape at the Erotica 2006 show in London, UK, on Friday, Nov. 17, 2006. Erotica is the world's largest adult lifestyle show. It attracts about 80,000 visitors every year with its over 150 retailer exhibitors, dazzling and decadent transvestite cabaret shows, fun foreplay seminars, beautiful lingerie collections, art and fetish demonstrations. **Italy Out**
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  • An exhibitor is showing one of his sex machines to a visitor at the Erotica 2006 show in London, UK, on Friday, Nov. 17, 2006. Erotica is the world's largest adult lifestyle show. It attracts about 80,000 visitors every year with its over 150 retailer exhibitors, dazzling and decadent transvestite cabaret shows, fun foreplay seminars, beautiful lingerie collections, art and fetish demonstrations. **Italy Out**
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  • A young woman is putting on some tights at one of the exhibitors' stands selling sexy lingerie at the Erotica 2006 show in London, UK, on Friday, Nov. 17, 2006. Erotica is the world's largest adult lifestyle show. It attracts about 80,000 visitors every year with its over 150 retailer exhibitors, dazzling and decadent transvestite cabaret shows, fun foreplay seminars, beautiful lingerie collections, art and fetish demonstrations. **Italy Out**
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  • A male model is holding a copy of the sexy calendar featuring one of his pictures at the Erotica 2006 show in London, UK, on Friday, Nov. 17, 2006. Erotica is the world's largest adult lifestyle show. It attracts about 80,000 visitors every year with its over 150 retailer exhibitors, dazzling and decadent transvestite cabaret shows, fun foreplay seminars, beautiful lingerie collections, art and fetish demonstrations. **Italy Out**
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  • The famous pin-up star, and wife of Marilyn Manson, Dita Von Teese is posing on stage at the Erotica 2006 show in London, UK, on Friday, Nov. 17, 2006. Erotica is the world's largest adult lifestyle show. It attracts about 80,000 visitors every year with its over 150 retailer exhibitors, dazzling and decadent transvestite cabaret shows, fun foreplay seminars, beautiful lingerie collections, art and fetish demonstrations. **Italy Out**
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  • Panoramic view of the Erotica 2006 show in London, UK, on Friday, Nov. 17, 2006. Erotica is the world's largest adult lifestyle show. It attracts about 80,000 visitors every year with its over 150 retailer exhibitors, dazzling and decadent transvestite cabaret shows, fun foreplay seminars, beautiful lingerie collections, art and fetish demonstrations. **Italy Out**
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  • A group of showgirls is performing at the Erotica 2006 show in London, UK, on Friday, Nov. 17, 2006. Erotica is the world's largest adult lifestyle show. It attracts about 80,000 visitors every year with its over 150 retailer exhibitors, dazzling and decadent transvestite cabaret shows, fun foreplay seminars, beautiful lingerie collections, art and fetish demonstrations. **Italy Out**
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  • Koren, 5, is one of three children presenting a similar neurological disorder and living on the same road in Joana village, pop. 1800, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. He is portrayed while in the arms of his father. The village is located onto a series of drains joining the Ganges River nearby and the community is entirely.reliant on the poisonous groundwater. Koren has serious cognitive limitations while his body's right side is affected by a semi-paralysis and muscular defection. His family cannot afford even a rudimental medication.
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  • Agricultural labourers are collecting water devoted to irrigation from pools forming on the side of the polluted Ganges River in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, near Jajmao Industrial Area. Sustaining life for thousands of years along the Indo-Gangetic plains, the river's ecosystem is in grave danger of being damaged beyond repair while crops absorb the contaminants from the water and pass it on to those consuming the vegetables grown in this area.
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  • A child with a neurological disorder (2nd from left) is portrayed with his underprivileged family inside their rudimental home in Joana, pop. 1800, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, a poor agricultural village affected by the tanneries' untreated water discharge in the Ganges River.
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  • The polluted Ganges River in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, is seen at dawn from its banks, bordering the large tannery area of Jajmao. Sustaining life for thousands of years along the Indo-Gangetic plains, the river's ecosystem is in grave danger of being damaged beyond repair.
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  • A large drain is pouring municipal and industrial waste into the Ganges River near Jajmau Industrial Area, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Many drains are scattered around the area and discharge contaminated wastewater into the nearby river tainting underground reservoirs and endangering the fresh water supply of local people.
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  • Young workers are feeding a series of large boilers in an illegal dumping and burning ground located on the banks of the holy Ganges River near the tannery area of Jajmau, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. The scrap leather is destined to be boiled and reduced to a thin dust: the raw material for fertilisers and chicken food production.
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  • Labourers are collecting and dividing the thin black dust obtained by boiling leather scraps in one of the many dumping and burning grounds near the tannery area of Jajmau, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. This dust is the first process to fertilisers and chicken food.
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  • Workers in one of the larger tanneries within the Jajmau Industrial Area, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, are stockpiling pieces of leather while trimming impurities and scraps before proceeding to colouring and finishing.
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  • Workers in one of the large tanneries located in Jajmau area of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, are processing leather in chromium baths, or liming, while complying to little, if any, health and safety regulations.
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  • A child labourer in one of the illegal tannery units inside Jajmau, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, is holding to the side of a pool while stepping on buffalo's skins inside a bath during the process of liming, the removal of hair and impurities with the use of water and various agents. Children are mostly employed on scraps, or little parts, like the head and the ears of the animal, which will become a small bag or maybe a cheap phone leather case.
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  • Hamidah, 6, (Left) and her two sisters Fatemah, 12, and Halemah, 9, are collecting water from a hand-pump situated on ground level a few hundred's meters from the cave where they live with their family since seven years, during a cold winter morning in Bamyan, central Afghanistan, an area mostly populated by Hazaras. A historically persecuted minority (15%) due to more lenient Islamic faith and characteristic 'Eastern' lineaments, Hazaras constitute the 70% of Bamyan's population.
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  • Maryam, 38, (Left) is warming her hands near the wood stove inside the cave where she live with her family since seven years, in Bamyan, central Afghanistan, an area mostly populated by Hazaras. A historically persecuted minority (15%) due to more lenient Islamic faith and characteristic 'Eastern' lineaments, Hazaras constitute the 70% of Bamyan's population.
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  • Hamidah, 6, is sitting alone next to a cave dug out of the friable the cliff where once stood the two giant Buddhas of Bamyan during the late afternoon hours when the Sun is setting on the Hindu Kush mountain range, in Bamyan, central Afghanistan, an area mostly populated by Hazaras. A historically persecuted minority (15%) due to more lenient Islamic faith and characteristic 'Eastern' lineaments, Hazaras constitute the 70% of Bamyan's population.
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  • A woman and her son are waling along the bazaar in the centre of Bamyan, central Afghanistan, an area mostly populated by Hazaras. A historically persecuted minority (15%) due to more lenient Islamic faith and characteristic 'Eastern' lineaments, Hazaras constitute the 70% of Bamyan's population.
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  • Halemah, 9, is running after her family's donkey on the way to collect water downhill. Halemah lives in the caves with her family since seven years, in Bamyan, central Afghanistan, an area mostly populated by Hazaras. A historically persecuted minority (15%) due to more lenient Islamic faith and characteristic 'Eastern' lineaments, Hazaras constitute the 70% of Bamyan's population.
    Bamiyan_UNESCO_57.JPG
  • Fatemah, 12, (Right) and her mother, Maryam, 38, (Left) are sitting in front of the cave where they live since seven years, during a cold winter morning in Bamyan, central Afghanistan, an area mostly populated by Hazaras. A historically persecuted minority (15%) due to more lenient Islamic faith and characteristic 'Eastern' lineaments, Hazaras constitute the 70% of Bamyan's population.
    Bamiyan_UNESCO_58.JPG
  • Fatemah, 12, is blowing in her hands to warm up in the early hours of a cold winter morning in the cave where her family resides since seven years, in Bamyan, central Afghanistan, an area mostly populated by Hazaras. A historically persecuted minority (15%) due to more lenient Islamic faith and characteristic 'Eastern' lineaments, Hazaras constitute the 70% of Bamyan's population.
    Bamiyan_UNESCO_55.JPG
  • The cliff where once stood the two giant Buddhas of Bamyan is photographed at night from a nearby hill by the homonymous town, in central Afghanistan, an area mostly populated by Hazaras.
    Bamiyan_UNESCO_51.JPG
  • Bedouins on their way home to the unrecognised village of Wadi abu Hindi, in the West Bank zone C (Israeli controlled), close to Jerusalem, the capital of the country. Numbering around 200.000 in Israel, the Bedouins constitute the native ethnic group of these areas, they farm, grow wheat, olives and live in complete self sufficiency. Many of them were in these lands long before the Israeli State was created and their traditional semi-nomadic lifestyle is now threatened by Governmental policies.
    Bedouin_Negev_Israel_01.JPG
  • Villagers are collecting water from a small river in Bamyan, Afghanistan. In the town there is no electricity or running water. Power is only being provided by generators or solar panels. The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th century monumental statues of standing Buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamiyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, situated 230 km northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2500 meters. The statues represented the classic blended style of Gandhara art. The main bodies were hewn directly from the sandstone cliffs, but details were modelled in mud mixed with straw, coated with stucco. Amid widespread international condemnation, the smaller statues (55 and 39 meters respectively) were intentionally dynamited and destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban because they believed them to be un-Islamic idols. Once a stopping point along the Silk Road between China and the Middle East, researchers think Bamiyan was the site of monasteries housing as many as 5,000 monks during its peak as a Buddhist centre in the 6th and 7th centuries. It is now a UNESCO Heritage Site since 2003. Archaeologists from various countries across the world have been engaged in preservation, general maintenance around the site and renovation. Professor Tarzi, a notable An Afghan-born archaeologist from France, and a teacher in Strasbourg University, has been searching for a legendary 300m Sleeping Buddha statue in various sites between the original standing ones, as documented in the old account of a renowned Chinese scholar, Xuanzang, visiting the area in the 7th century. Professor Tarzi worked on projects to restore the other Bamiyan Buddhas in the late 1970s and has spent most of his career researching the existence of the missing giant Buddha in the valley.
    Bamiyan_UNESCO_Alex_Masi047.jpg
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Alex Masi Documentary Photography

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