Potosí, Bolivia, Julio de 2007.

I wasn't and really am not sure whether to post this image or not. The kid after all didn't give his explicit permission to have his face spread across the internet.

But I did and do want to show this other reality so far removed from my own, where 12-year olds work 12-hour shifts inside a mineshaft. It goes without saying that this kid won't be finishing his secondary education (primary school is obligatory in Bolivia, as far as I remember - not that the authorities are capable of fully upholding that rule either). Chances are he won't live beyond the age of forty.
It also seems the kid is proud to be posing in front of 'his' mine and be doing the work his father, grandfather and possibly a whole line of his ancestors have done.
Reality's a complicated thing sometimes.
Still, I'd like to show some of what's going on in this remote corner of the world. You can make up your own mind.

Any comment or thought is appreciated.