We noticed a trend in which young Namibian artists recycle everyday waste products and transform them into beautiful objects. This gave us the idea of creating African masks from recycled trash. African masks are familiar cultural items, and to see them formed from garbage creates a powerful image of how pollution can re-define our culture.

We tasked two young local artists with the project of creating these trash-masks. The masks were made from used water and oil containers, plastic bags, cans, wires and other discarded material.

We then photographed the masks worn specifically by children in order to hint at the corrosive nature of pollution on future generations. The expression suggested by the ‘mouth’ of the masks is one of shock and dismay.

The subjects were photographed against a black background to highlight the colours and individual elements that make up the masks.

The campaign was only launched in April 2017, so no results are as yet available. Also, poster campaigns are not traceable.