A body of copper


 Photo project, 2025

Details

The series follows a human body moving through the infrastructures of a copper mining plant – from underground tunnels to the ore crushing facility, and finally to the nearby waste area. The journey of copper is mirrored through the human body, drawing attention to the vulnerabilities of those whose labor makes the extraction of ore from previously uninhabitable subterranean environments possible.

From the low temperatures, lack of oxygen, and unstable underground tunnel structures often subjected to explosions, to the waste areas where sulfuric acid and heavy metals infiltrate the environment and destroy organic life – the photographs highlight the entangled consequences of extractivism on both human and non-human bodies.


On photos: Iuliia Gataulina

Collaborator: Natalia Batrakova

Location: Outokumpu, Finland

The project was developed during the Old Mine Residency in Outokumpu and is part of the academic project “Pluriversal Waters”, funded by the Kone Foundation
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