Every year, some 30,000 primates, two-to-five million birds, and ten million reptile skins enter the Asian wild animal market, the third-largest illegal smuggling operation in the world.
Photojournalist Patrick Brown goes deep inside this vast, dangerous world. He risks his own personal safety to take us on a fascinating — and stomach-turning — journey through the lives of myth-bound Chinese villagers, the status-seeking nouveau riche, third-generation smugglers, and corrupt officials that make this market possible.
In cultures where tiger skins, rhino horns, and bear bile are imbued with mythical properties, these wild animal parts are bought and paid for at astonishingly high prices. In Black Market, we come to understand that the price for these rarities may be the very survival of endangered species world-wide, as well as the ecological stability of the planet.
Additional Stories
Shark Fin Soup
The sale of bear paws, crocodile hearts, and other rare animal parts form the world's third-largest illegal market. Black Market explores the human passions and ancient beliefs that drive the trade and threaten its most endangered species.
Credits
Special Thanks
Adam Oswell, Ben Davies, Nic Dunlop, Oli Pin Fat, Jim Pollard, Roland Neveu, Tiane Doanna Champassak, Jodi Bieder, Gerhard Joren, Jack Picone, Teru Kuwayama, Balazs Gardi, Steve Galster, Tassanee Vejpongsa, Tim Redford, Mark Bowman, Helen Kudrich, Marcus Bleasdale, Stuart Isett, Evelyne Chevallier, Ryan Pyle, Andrew Marshall, Barbara Herrmann, Andy Fisher, Samuel James Taylor, Denise Ofelia Mangen, Mrigen Barua, Parteek, Mangal Man Shakya, Edwin Wiek, Henrik Tived, Kylie Clarke, David Dare Parker, Brad Rimmer, Denise Sumpf, Georgina and Sam Brown
Support
The 3P Foundation, WildAid, Panos
Purchase
Recognition
NPPA's Best of Photojournalism
Year: 2008
Place: First
Category: Documentary Video
NPPA's Best of Photojournalism
Year: 12008
Place: Honorable Mention
Category: Best Multimedia Package
Pictures of the Year International
Year: 2008
Place: Award of Excellence
Category: Best Multimedia Project
The Society of News Design
Year: 2008
Place: First
Category: Monthly Winner: February
Related Links
Press
VICE: Picture Perfect: Patrick Brown
Craig Ferguson Images: Multimedia Essays
Wolfgang Jahn: GEO: Bitter Aftertaste (German - Translate)
Geo: Bitter aftertaste (German - Translate)
Ivasfot: Patrick Brown (Spanish - Translate)
Melany Troy's Blog: MediaStorm The Black Market
GoKumming: Traditional Chinese Medicine... right. (Chinese - Translate)
SalaamGarage: Get Mult With Your Media
Miller-McCune Online Magazine: Rising Storm