The entire fabric of contemporary society is underpinned by the phenomenon of capital. Wealth equals power, and power determines social relations. Or so Thomas Piketty would have you think. The rock-star French economist’s scathing history of modern capital begins in the 1700s–when the average...

Emmanuel Gras • France • 2017 • A portrait of a man in pursuit of a better life in the Congo

Kabwita Kasongo is 28 years old, living in the Congo with his wife and young daughters. His dream is to somehow earn enough money to buy a plot of land where he can build his family a home. Having fel...

In the Donbass region of Ukraine, coal miners toil far below the surface of the earth, extracting carbon to heat their meager homes, selling anything extra for food. In Kawah Ijen, Indonesia, men scale treacherous mountain paths to the edge of a volcanic crater, where they harvest slabs of sulfu...

In Bangkok, Thailand, women linger in brightly-lit boxes, awaiting their next client. In the bustling red-light district of Faridpur, Bangladesh, a madam haggles over the price of a teenage girl. In Reynosa, on the Mexican-American border, SUVs drive up and down muddy streets while drug-addled ...