The Sapphire Mines Of Madagascar

The tiny village of Ilakaka, Madagascar had barely 40 residents before 1998. Then, a large deposit of sapphires was discovered along a nearby riverbed, and caught the eye of some Thai businessmen in the gem trade. Word got out, and Ilakaka swelled to tens of thousands of residents - the center of a sapphire boom, today the source of nearly 50% of all the sapphires in the world. Illegal miners mixed with large-scale operations, all operating under little or no regulation, in a wild-west atmosphere of potential fortunes, lawlesness, violence and hardship.

Age Maps - Bobby Neel Adams Photography

Really cool work by Bobby Neel Adams as he puts two pictures together of the same person one half is a child photo and the other the adult. See more of his work at Bobby Neel Adams.