Tunisian photographer Zied Ben Romdhane became a Magnum nominee at the collective’s 2019 AGM, held in London. His best known work, the 2018 book West of Life, deals with neglected populations in Tunisia’s south, and specifically with the nation’s isolated – yet economically crucial – mining communities in and around the region of Gafsa. While Ben Romdhane started his career as a commercial photographer, the changes he witnessed in both Tunisia and in the media at large during the Arab Spring saw him increase his focus on making documentary work. Here the photographer discusses the advantages of a slow approach to documenting both communities and individuals, creating visual unity in diverse work, and redressing the imbalance of media coverage in his homeland.