Pieter Hugo

Untitled, Agbogbloshie Market, Accra, Ghana, 2010

The large-format horizontally-oriented photograph Untitled, Agbogbloshie Market, Accra, Ghana shows people whose living environment is shaped by the electronic waste of technological throwaway societies in Europe. “Around 80% of European electronic waste is shipped abroad. This is called ‘outsourcing of costs,’” says Hugo as he describes the economic phenomenon that created a visually surreal, real but highly toxic landscape where dark smoke accompanies the process of burning cables and equipment. “I saw the landfill for the first time in a photo in ‘National Geographic.’ The fact that photos persuade me to take my own photos is a central theme running through my work.” Photography as a referential visual practice, which always refers explicitly or implicitly to existing images, is a key aspect of Pieter Hugo’s photographic practice.