Dying To Breathe

Deep in the landlocked rural heartland of China, Sim Chi Yin documented a gold miner’s slow death due to “Black Lung,” the disease known as pneumoconiosis. Pneumoconiosis is contracted from the lungs’ exposure to dust from drilling and it hardens the worker’s lung tissue over time, making it more and more difficult to breathe. This work puts faces to the unnamed Chinese workers the disease is quietly killing. Pneumoconiosis is China’s most prevalent occupational disease, affecting at least 6 million workers. It is still a problem in other mining countries like South Africa and is making a comeback in the U.S., UK and Australia.