The UK-based Hungarian Roma documentary photographer Béla Váradi spent months photographing the life of blood plasma donors after he realised several old friends saw payment for plasma donation as a way of getting by

In the rust belt of north-eastern Hungary, a new economy is thriving – one built on human blood. Private companies have found a way to profit from the desperation of the region’s most marginalised population, the Gypsies. For many, the act of donating blood plasma has become a lifeline, a grim means of survival in a landscape of chronic unemployment and deprivation.

Miskolc, Hungary. One man prepares for plasma donation, while the other shows his bandaged arm