Hard.Land – The Black Gold

Espen Rasmussen

Photography and video: Espen Rasmussen
Edit: Espen Rasmussen
Music: Augustus Bro – Led by the Dress Colored in Red

They work on their knees, eight hours each day, in a cave not higher than three feet. The coal miners of West Virginia have one of the hardest blue collar jobs in America.

Hard.Land is a multimedia project – a journey through Blue Collar America to meet the people struggling to keep the American Dream alive: The middle class, the unemployed, the new poor, the workers on low or minimum wage – and those who have lost benefits and had their salaries slashed.

From Chicago to Detroit, Youngstown, Beckley, Williamsport and finally New York, reporter Roy Freddy Andersen and photographer Espen Rasmussen tell stories of people who are facing difficult times, and those who still have work, but often on minimum wages.

Project webpage: hard.land
Facebook: facebook.com/myhardland
Instagram: myhardland
Twitter: myhardland


If you are interested this film or have any questions please contact marina@panos.co.uk directly.