Benizi Santamaria, Haze (PEOPLE & PORTRAIT 2024)

Here in the outskirts of Bogor, West Java, a young labourer stops work for a few puffs. A smoke haze hangs in the air. In the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, the rampant clearing of land by burning continues. There is money to be made from palm oil, tobacco and other more profitable crops. The Haze will hang for a few months until the monsoon. Meanwhile the blame game between the nations of South East Asia continues. One cannot now blame the Haze on the smoking habit of this young man.

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