On the cover photo
On the cover photo
Mathias Depardon
April 4, 2026
“On several occasions, I’ve been aboard with Hafeez and the rest of the group, to witness the sand miners extract sand from the seabed in Meemu Atoll near Mulah island. The divers collect sand underwater with the help of a white, plastic plate. A dozen men fill up about 200 bags per day, which corresponds to 1 tonne of sand. Its use is primarily for personal household construction requirements and it’s being sold at .85 to 1 euro a bag.
It amazed me to see how quickly this went – within an hour or so they had filled about 200 bags of marine sand and loaded it onto the boat. 7 divers were in the water, and two men were loading the bags onboard. Some of them, like Naail, were spending time with their families and doing this as a summer job away from Malé. They make about 10 to 15 euros a day for an activity which lasts around 3 hours a day.
As soon as the boat is full of sand bags, they return to the marina where they had picked me up, unload the sandbags and the activity of sand mining is over for the rest of the day.”
It amazed me to see how quickly this went – within an hour or so they had filled about 200 bags of marine sand and loaded it onto the boat. 7 divers were in the water, and two men were loading the bags onboard. Some of them, like Naail, were spending time with their families and doing this as a summer job away from Malé. They make about 10 to 15 euros a day for an activity which lasts around 3 hours a day.
As soon as the boat is full of sand bags, they return to the marina where they had picked me up, unload the sandbags and the activity of sand mining is over for the rest of the day.”
Text and image: © Mathias Depardon
LFI 3.2026+-
Find more information and images from Depardon’s Moving Sand project in LFI Magazine 3.2026. More
Mathias Depardon+-
The photographer grew up in France, Belgium and the USA. After studying communication and journalism, he worked for the Belgium newspaper Le Soir, before turning to reportage photography. His immersive approach led to the production of comprehensive projects in volatile regions, dealing with ecological and social themes. His work has appeared in National Geographic, The New Yorker and other international magazines. More