There are 23 sites in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Virginia developed under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. I visit each one to collect coal and photograph the site. Here, I am photographing Christine West Bridge, built on the former
At each redevelopment, coal from the former mountain lies strewn around the site. This is the gravel and coal parking lot of the Mingo County High School’s football field.
I developed a pigment using coal to create photographic tissue. The coal from each site is milled to 0.8 microns.
I mix coal, Dawn, gelatin and water to create the pigment that will coat the photographic tissue. In this way, I’m able to make each photograph from coal from its own site. I measure out ingredients using syringes and a kitchen scale to obtain a con
After heating the mixture with a sous vide for 30 minutes to obtain a consistent liquid texture, I pour it onto yupo paper and roll it smooth with a ridged rod. When the mixture solidifies, I pull up the paper—now photo-ready coal tissue—and move to
I sensitize the coal tissue using dichromate, I expose it with a negative of an image from the same site where I collected the coal.
Exposed coal tissue mating with the paper where the final photo will land.
A test photograph developing in a warm water bath.
A near final print from Mt. Olive Correctional Complex. The coal particles make the tissue delicate to handle, so that breaks and bubbles are common.
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