Ben Roberts, a UK-based photographer, teamed up with Financial Time's correspondent Sara O'Connor to explore the impact of the arrival of behemoth Amazon to one rural English town.
Ben Roberts writes on his website, "I was sent on assignment by the Financial Times Weekend Magazine to photograph people and places in and around Rugeley. A former coal mining town, Rugeley has struggled during the UK’s current recession, with high unemployment being a particular problem. The arrival of Amazon to occupy a huge warehouse in the town was originally seen as being a boost to the local economy, but has it turned out that way? "
To get the full impact of this story, you need to go to Ben Roberts' website (link below) and read the insightful writing and interviews by Sara O'Connor. Together they ask many thoughtful questions about the aggressive global Amazon corporate culture, and how it collides with the local values and culture of the region - - with a simple underlying question - is this progress-?
As we move towards a global homogenization of culture as a whole, how much do we want to see local values displaced through our consumer choices? What happens to when people chose to shop on Amazon instead of supporting UK-based companies? And how might that be changing the nature of employment in the UK, and it's culture as a whole as a result?
These hard-hitting questions about how our consumer choices may be impacting businesses and employment around the world deserve a moment of consideration.
Former coal miners now employed by Amazon.
Más Se Perdió En Cuba
As a separate project, Ben Roberts has also been photographing Spain since 2007 - here are a few of the images he calls Mas Se Perdio En Cuba, which translated means "we lost more when we lost Cuba".
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