BURKINA FASO. Ouagadougou. 2021. Pissy quarry, granite. Men and women extract granite and break it down to be amalgamated into concrete walls, or broken down into finer gravel to form the foundations of new houses, exemplifying a move away from traditional materials. The process involves burning tires in order to create the heat necessary to crack massive slabs of granite, which are then broken down into ever smaller pieces and carried in large loads on their heads up the quarry’s steep slopes. Quarry workers estimate that they burn at least 200 tires a day, creating noxious fumes which along with the extreme heat create hazardous working conditions for the men, women -and some children below the age of 10 who work there for up to 14 hours a day. Despite the creation of several mechanized quarries around Ouagadougou, which have undercut prices, the quarry at Pissy persists because of the insatiable demand for new concrete housing.