My project ‘Shifting Sands’ is being featured in Migrant Journal No. 5: Micro Odysseys. I presented this ongoing project on November 5th at the Tate Modern Book Shop in London for the launch of this new edition of Migrant Journal, which is available now. Migrant Journal is a unique six-issue project that explores the circulation of people, goods, and information around the world and the transformative impact they have on space. ‘Micro Odysseys’ examines the hidden ingredients that make modern human existence possible – the underlying elements that surround us but that we rarely see.
“Sand is fast-becoming one of the most precious commodities of our time. Alongside gravel, sand is an aggregate that has become essential to urbanisation. It is, for instance, used to make concrete—the addition of cement, sand, gravel and water. For the year 2012 alone, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimated that the world’s use of concrete can be estimated at 26 to 30 Gt. As the UNEP puts it, that is enough to build a wall 27m-high by 27m-wide all along the 40,000km-long Equator.
Chi Yin investigates visually the complex issue of sand using varied scales and techniques: from drone photography to capture the impact on landscape of building Singapore’s new harbour in Tuas, to her human-scale reporting in Chau Ma and Hiep Phuoc, Vietman, where entire ancestral livelihoods are destroyed by the erosion of farmable lands. The former award-winning foreign correspondent for The Straits Times, Singapore’s English-language most prominent newspaper, illustrates with “Shifting Sands” the depth and versatility of her approach to investigation and photography.“
You’ll find a PDF copy for your perusal below or you can order a copy here.