Chittagong, the second largest city in Bangladesh, has become the main place in the world for dismantling large
ocean going ships and oil tankers, a massive recycling industry commonly known as shipwrecking. The so-called
Chittagong “shipyard complex” consists of approximately ten kilometers of flat beaches and sand-banks where ships
are stranded and, after any usable equipment is removed, broken down for their steel.
Dozens of thousands of people work there in hazardous conditions, without proper training and gear, using simple,
manual tools, gas torches and primitive jacks. Tomasz Gudzowaty photographed these “shipwreckers” in 2004 and
2005. His black and white photographs show men and even children dwarfed by the giant vessels suggesting the
vulnerability of the workers and the former beauty of the now polluted beaches.
Tomasz Gudzowaty was born in 1971. He studied law at the University of Warsaw. His photographs have been
published in Max Magazine, L’Equipe, The Guardian, Newsweek, Forbes, Time, Photo and Stern View and he is also
the author of several books. He is a multiple winner of some of the most important photography contests, including
World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year, NPPA Best of Photojournalism.