It is with pride that we’re able to announce Mark Katzman’s collaboration in the publication of Fires, Fuel & the Fate of 3 Billion. The book began as an ambitious idea that was kicked around at a friend’s dinner party, and realized with the help of Gautum Yadama. Gautam’s concept was to use the power of photography to help bring attention to the ‘complex nexus’ of the energy poverty crisis.
Inside small homes and huts throughout the developing world, billions of people burn fires in rudimentary stoves to prepare their meals and heat their homes. Besides providing heat, these stoves also release large amounts of dense black soot, which has a staggeringly negative impact on the health, ecosystems, and advancement of the poor in the developing world.
Photographed in communities of rural India, Mark shot a total of 28 days over two separate trips. “Having this kind of access to beautiful & interesting tribal communities & being able to help them with my photography at the same time was a great gift.” More information about the project can be found here.
Craig Calhoun, Director of the London School of Economics summed it up this way, “A beautiful example of why images deserve a more central place alongside statistics and words as crucial sources of social knowledge.”