Picture of dip trench with two yellow excavators on the bottom.

Eye-catching abstract photos reveal mining’s scars on our planet

From a helicopter above mined land in Germany, a photographer documents the results of extracting coal to fuel power plants.

At this coal mine near Dresden, Germany—as at others around the world—excavators move thousands of tons of soil, gravel, and clay to reach fossil fuel deposits.

Tom Hegen makes portraits of the Anthropocene, this current age in which the dominant influence on Earth is human activity. His work often requires observing from above: leaning out of helicopters, operating drones. Taken from these heights, Hegen’s series of images show the broad effects of receding glaciers, exploited farmland, polluted quarries—and coal mines in Germany, Hegen’s homeland.

Some mines are still operating; others, spent and shut down. The lignite coal here is almost always buried, requiring industrial excavation that can foul ecosystems and waterways. The coal yields cheap electricity, but at a high cost in scarred land. Though the scars are upsetting, Hegen says, he gives the portraits an abstract beauty in the hope that people will look at them—and consider the ecological issues they present.

These photographs are of Germany; extraction mining of fossil fuels and minerals creates similar scenes elsewhere. There are signs of change, however. The German government says it will end coal mining and close coal-fueled power plants by 2038.

Minerals color a wastewater pond after mining.
Minerals color a wastewater pond after mining.

This story appears in the May 2021 issue of National Geographic magazine.

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