Photographs by David Maisel

David Maisel’s passion for photographing degraded landscapes began 30 years ago, when a love for the environment pushed him to investigate extractive industries like mining. As he began his research, he soon realized there were few photos documenting those industries’ impacts. He set out to change that by taking aerial shots of the pits and toxic pools caused by mining in the US and abroad. The resulting images, which he describes as “disquieting and weirdly beautiful,” are part of The Mining Project, and allow viewers to visualize the enormity of this environmental destruction.