Still Image Award Winner 2022

For What It's Worth - Dillon Marsh (South Africa)

Palabora Mine - 4.1 million tonnes of copper

Artwork description

Whether they are active or long dormant, mines speak of a combination of sacrifice and gain. Their features are crude, unsightly scars on the landscape - unlikely feats of hard labour and specialised engineering, constructed to extract value from the earth but also exacting a price.

These images combine photography and CGI to show the output of various copper mines in South Africa. The rendered and composited spheres represent accurately scaled models of the total copper mass removed from each mine. By doing so, the intention is to create a kind of visualisation of the merits and shortfalls of this industry that has shaped the history and economy of the country so radically.