Crude Reflections / Cruda Realidad: Oil, Ruin and Resistance in the Amazon Rainforest

by Lou Dematteis, Kayana Szymczak, Trudie Styler (Introduction)

Crude Reflections chronicles the human and environmental impact of oil drilling in the Ecuadorian Amazon, where the pollution is so extensive that medical experts currently predict thousands of deaths from cancer and the disappearance of five indigenous rainforest communities. Photographers Lou Dematteis and Kayana Szymczak have documented the physical and emotional reality of those affected by this toxic contamination, roughly thirty times greater than the more widely reported Exxon Valdez oil spill. Their powerful images are accompanied by moving first-person testimonies from the victims, and the uplifting story of efforts by local communities to seek justice and to prevent further drilling.

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2008

About the author

San Francisco Bay Area photojournalist and documentary photographer Lou Dematteis has covered issues of social, political, economic and environmental importance for the past 30 years. A former staff photographer for Reuters News Pictures, he was based in Managua, Nicaragua, from 1985 to 1990, where he covered the wars and civil unrest which raged in the region. He went on to serve ten years as the San Francisco photo bureau chief for Reuters. He has published three books and his photos have appeared in every major U.S. newspaper and in every major news magazine in the United States and Europe. An award-winning photographer, he has received a citation from World Press Photo and his photos have been included in the New York Times and National Press Photographers Association Pictures of the Year. In 1990 he was named one of the top 80 photojournalists in the world. His work has been exhibited on four continents and in 2007 he received a grant from the Open Society Institute to exhibit his work from the Ecuadoran Amazon in the communities in Ecuador most affected by the contamination left in the region as a result of Texaco's oil extraction practices."

Reviews

[City Lights Booksellers & Publishers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crude Reflections/Cruda Realidad chronicles the human and environmental impact of oil drilling in the Ecuadoran Amazon, where the pollution is so extensive that medical experts currently predict thousands of deaths from cancer and the disappearance of five indigenous rainforest communities. Community leaders and doctors already report elevated rates of cancer in the region, as well as birth defects. Photographers Lou Dematteis and Kayana Szymczak have documented the physical and emotional reality of those affected by this toxic contamination, roughly 30 times greater than the more widely reported Exxon Valdez spill.

While the images and testimonies of victims are a central component of the story, the book also documents an uplifting campaign for justice, culminating in a landmark legal case now being adjudicated in Ecuador. This is also the story of a campaign to preserve the as-yet undeveloped southern Amazon, where several indigenous nations are fighting to keep oil drilling off their lands and out of the region. While focusing on one geographic region, Crude Reflections makes a statement about the need for safe environmental practices and the importance of preservation in the Amazon basin and throughout the world.
Text accompanying photos is in Spanish and English.


Praise for Crude Reflections:

"As I viewed each photograph, I felt as if I was stepping into the Amazon rainforest, and the commentary and stories are told in a way that brings meaning not only to the plight of the people of Ecuador, but of all people fighting for environmental justice."
—Jeff Adachi, San Francisco Public Defender


Check out JUSTICIA NOW!, a documentary about ChevronTexaco's toxic legacy in the Northern Ecuadoran region of the Amazon rainforest & a courageous group of people, Los Afectados (The Affected Ones), who are seeking justice for the ensuing cancer, sickness & death in the largest environmental class action lawsuit in history. Featuring Pablo Fajardo, Luis Yanza, Daryl Hannah, John Quigley & Stuart Townsend.

Download this film for free:
www.Mofilms.org
www.ChevronToxico.com
www.AmazonWatch.org

[Anastasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This photo book was powerful, moving, and informative. The authors (photojournalists) went to the Ecuadorian Amazon and photographed the people and the landscape to capture and tell the story of Chevron/Texaco's destruction of the land, culture and people. Accompanying text in Spanish and English gives the reader good information to understand the photos in their context. This book made me feel at turns outraged, deeply sad, and impressed with the resiliency of the human spirit. I highly recommend you read it, view it, feel it.

[UVM Libraries]

To get this book from the University of Vermont Libraries:
http://voyager.uvm.edu/bibs/bid167526...

[Tippy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some mind-boggling images in here. And a good description of the lawsuits that have happened and are about to happen.