Don Simon by Simone Francescangeli

In Bolivia, historically, working in the mines is a family affair. Silver is the most sought-after mineral, but also copper and tin. Potosì is an example of this. An empirical skill, an “artisanal” manual dexterity made of word of mouth, which is passed down from father to son. Don Simon is a case of this world. He lives alone, abandoned even by his son. Everyday life is a constant struggle.

Without protection, with an old hammer, a chisel and a bucket. Sometimes dynamite when he can afford it. A life spent inside the bowels of the earth, in the darkness of the mines, illuminated only by small fixed lamps on a worn helmet. The average life expectancy of a miner is 45 years. Life at risk every day.

When he woke up the day after the accident, he couldn't open his eyes. A stick of dynamite exploded with a long delay. It was covered with stone chips. His face still seems to suffer a continuous explosion. The dynamite damaged his eyes permanently. Worn out, it bears the marks of relentless survival.

A simple house. Constantly chewing coca leaves to relieve fatigue and hunger. He keeps a couple of plastic bags aside. “Without I wouldn't be able to do anything” said to me. The piecework barely allows him to sustain himself in a week. The glint of sweat. He lost his wife shortly after his tragic accident. Her life stopped the day she died. A constant wait between life and death.

He has entered Mother Earth's belly every day since he was five years old. When the sun has not yet risen and comes out when the sun has already fallen. His life stopped, erased. Inside the house and in the mine. "I lost everything. A flash, the same glow that wanted to take away my eyes, my face. My wife was my life."

Don Simon is part of the Story of a common destiny for millions of people, eight, who died starting in 1545 (foundation of the first mine in the belly of Cerro Rico of Potosì) who worked among the Bolivian mines. Dynamite explosions, silicosis, tunnel collapses. A man trying to survive even himself in the only memory outside the mine. His wife.

Simone Francescangeli has attended and continues to attend the Bolivian mines, dedicating himself to the lives of the men, women and children involved.

Simone Francescangeli

Simone Francescangeli lives in Italy. Attracted from different cultures and people's ways of life and their relationship with the earth and natural resources. He continues to investigate various ways to find the meaning of the word "life" and human-being. Simone continuously seeks to evolve his own way of expressing himself, deepening, developing and characterizing a personal way of telling human stories. He dedicates himself to encounters souls and their dignity. His narrative is developed with texts, photographs and multi-media products / short films.

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