Photographer Muntaka Chasant has documented thousands of clothes washed up on a beach in Africa, highlighting the environmental impact of fast fashion.
Chasant points out Petapixel that he took a “beating” from the waves in Ghana to capture the powerful and thoughtful photographs.
“I had to get in the water to capture most of the scenes that gave me a shot,” explains Chasant.
“Documenting unwanted discarded clothing is part of my long-term focus on the geography of waste – to highlight the environmental cost and burden of fast fashion.”
Disturbing photos taken in Ghana’s capital, Accra, show huge piles of wet clothes strewn on the sand. Many of the items are believed to have been imported from the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as other wealthy countries.
Ghana is home to a thriving second-hand clothing industry, where unwanted Western clothes are sent for resale and reuse – but the African nation is now struggling to keep up with demand.
The clothes, known locally as “Obroni W’awu” which translates as “clothes of the dead whites”, have been donated by well-meaning Westerners and locals will receive them in the hope of uncovering some finds of good quality to sell. Anything they cannot sell is dumped on the banks of the Odaw River, which is unfortunately synonymous with pollution.
About 40 percent of discarded clothes arriving in the West African nation end up being thrown away this way, and the problem is getting worse because of new “disposable” clothing and low-quality fast fashion items on the rise. It is also having a detrimental effect on Ghana’s textile and design sectors, with local traders unable to compete with the flood of cheap clothing coming in from abroad.
Environmental Photographer
Chasant used a DJI Air 2 for the aerial photos and a Sony a7 III with a 24-105mm f/4 attached.
The Ghana-based documentary photographer focuses on “urban marginality, geographies of waste, human-environment interaction and new and evolving challenges.” He focuses on the city of Accra, showing the world the pollution in places such as the Korle Lagoon, where thousands of single-use plastic waste is dumped and seeps into the ocean.
Visit Chasant’s website to see more of his work.
Image credits: All photos by Muntaka Chasant.
