Unearthing the Earth


Photo series, 2024 – ongoing




Details

This photo series depicts various sites of metal extraction and processing, both past and present. It was produced in Finland during fieldwork for a research project on extractivism, and specifically features extraction sites in Outokumpu (a former copper mining area) and Sodankylä (an active multi-metal mining site). The series focuses on mining machinery and infrastructure, as well as sites of environmental contamination resulting from mining activities. These techno-physical entanglements between mining infrastructures and the bedrock are approached through the concept of unearthing: large-scale material intervention into the Earth’s subsurface under extractivist regimes.


Location: Outokumpu and Sodänkylä; Finland

The series is part of the academic project “Pluriversal Waters”, funded by the Kone Foundation