Democratic Republic of Congo: Beneath the Judgement
Cobalt, Livelihoods and Survival
This gallery is a brief selection from a much larger body of work. The remaining images and full narrative are reserved for my forthcoming book. For commissioning or licensing enquiries, please contact me directly.
This is not a story about villains and victims—it is a story about survival. Beneath the Judgment confronts the brutal realities of cobalt mining in the DRC, where families carve out a living from the earth, often with bare hands and no protection. Artisanal mines, condemned by international observers, are in fact a last resort for communities with no other economic lifeline. They are dangerous, unregulated—and essential.
In contrast, commercial mining operations—mostly foreign-owned—sprawl across the land like industrial fortresses. These walled cities import their own labour, extract vast wealth, and leave devastation in their wake. In one village, toxic runoff from a nearby mine poisons water, soil, and bodies. Children are being born with abnormalities. Families are falling ill. And still, there is no alternative.
This project does not offer easy answers. It captures the impossible choices people must make to stay alive. It calls for justice—but not the kind that erases the poor under the guise of ethics. If mining ends tomorrow, so do thousands of lives. Until there is something else to live on, this is the Catch-22 the world continues to ignore.
This gallery is a brief selection from a much larger body of work. The remaining images and full narrative are reserved for my forthcoming book. For commissioning or licensing enquiries, please contact me directly.
This is not a story about villains and victims—it is a story about survival. Beneath the Judgment confronts the brutal realities of cobalt mining in the DRC, where families carve out a living from the earth, often with bare hands and no protection. Artisanal mines, condemned by international observers, are in fact a last resort for communities with no other economic lifeline. They are dangerous, unregulated—and essential.
In contrast, commercial mining operations—mostly foreign-owned—sprawl across the land like industrial fortresses. These walled cities import their own labour, extract vast wealth, and leave devastation in their wake. In one village, toxic runoff from a nearby mine poisons water, soil, and bodies. Children are being born with abnormalities. Families are falling ill. And still, there is no alternative.
This project does not offer easy answers. It captures the impossible choices people must make to stay alive. It calls for justice—but not the kind that erases the poor under the guise of ethics. If mining ends tomorrow, so do thousands of lives. Until there is something else to live on, this is the Catch-22 the world continues to ignore.
© Liz Loh-Taylor
Client Access
Contact