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Soldiers of Asbestos

This is #4 in my 100 Strangers Project

Yesterday I was walking around looking for scenes to shoot and the guy on the right passed me pushing this large cart. I looked at him and said: Asbestos? And he said: Yeah.

He kept rolling and I kept walking, but slower and slower. So finally I turned around and caught up with him. I told him about the project and asked if I could take his picture.

Can I leave my mask on?

Absolutely.

Suddenly his friend appeared. I thought he was going to tell me I wasn't allowed to take pictures, but they were equals in this job. So I snapped the pics. I liked the close-up of the guy on the right best, but I also wanted to show the asbestos, so this is the image I chose.

They were not talkative. (Perhaps because of the masks and they WERE at work.) But I asked them if they were nervous about the asbestos and they said no. Did they like their work?

It's a job, they both agreed

One of my contacts thinks that this is pretty sparse protection for asbestos, as they are not wearing the white protective gear. I think they were just rolling it out of the containment area. Who knows?

..... Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at www.100strangers.com/

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Uploaded on July 8, 2008
Taken on July 7, 2008