Photo of the Day

copper plates lit by the setting sun in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
September 13, 2013

Copper Plant, Congo

This Month in Photo of the Day: The Stories Behind Your Shots

"The sun, like a magic wand, turned everything into copper," writes Your Shot contributor Loes Schalekamp, who worked as a safety manager at this copper plant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's mineral-rich Katanga Province, known as the Copper Belt.

"In this plant, copper is plated using blanks suspended in an acid-copper solution in electrowinning cells," Schalekamp writes. "In daylight the plant looks bland and gray … But I noticed, while doing my rounds, that as the sun sets it shines for just a few moments under the roof, seemingly turning everything to copper. It took a few goes to get all the elements together—the light, the people, and the blanks above the cells."

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Photograph by Loes Schalekamp, Your Shot
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