The phenomenon of urbanization that has been relentless over the past 50 years, especially in Africa and in Asia, seems to be unstoppable along with the current economic trends. Every day entire families are driven away from rural areas, hoping for better luck elsewhere. Around the capital city of Dhaka, huge shanty towns made of iron sheets and plastic have sprung without any electricity, gas or water, let alone a sewage system, surrounded by piles of garbage where undisturbed dogs, goats and cows scavenge for food. The slum dwellers either barely subsist or endure long daily travels to reach the “real” city in search for work. Their children have become almost invisible because they are unaccounted for: unregistered at birth, kept out of school, they contribute to the family income by doing random and often hazardous work, living in the streets where they are further exposed to violence and abuse from adults.
The reportage “Life in the slum of Dhaka” is part of a wider project called “Invisible people” by Luca catalano Gonzaga. This project, carried out by Witness Image and financially supported by Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation, gathers photo reportage on men, women and children whose lives have been forgotten amidst old and new forms of poverty and exploitation.
