OUTSKIRTS OF STEEL (Brazil, 2008-ongoing)

Since the 1960s the Vale do Aço, a region in the heart of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, has been the epicentre of its steel industry. The 750,000 residents of the largest cities in the valley live among dozens of larger and smaller steel factories that are responsible for creating serious pollu-tion. However, over the past two years the industrialisation is also spreading beyond the boundaries of the urban area. Galvanised iron sheds are springing up like mushrooms across the countryside. They threaten fragile communities that live from sand extraction and agriculture. As photographer Rodrigo Zeferino says: ‘Inhabitants of the countryside sleep with the din of metal in their ears.’ Many feel they are being driven out and in the future they will probably be swallowed up into cul-turally homogeneous urban life. OUTSKIRTS OF STEEL is documenting a rural culture that is under fire, before it disappears for good.