{"id":8881,"date":"2026-10-27T10:53:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T17:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=8881"},"modified":"2026-10-27T10:53:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T17:53:00","slug":"tom-hegens-the-mineral-age-documents-the-indelible-effects-of-the-green-transition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=8881","title":{"rendered":"Tom Hegen\u2019s \u2018The Mineral Age\u2019 Documents the Indelible Effects of the Green Transition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Tom<\/p>\n

In its current form, the global transition away from fossil fuels will depend on the earth\u2019s rare minerals. According to ClimateWorks<\/a>, we\u2019ll collectively need to mine 6.5 billion tons of cobalt, copper, lithium, nickel, and other materials before 2050 in order to keep up with energy demands. Most of these resources are found in regions already facing the greatest impacts of the climate crisis, from Chile\u2019s Atacama Desert to Indonesia\u2019s nickel reserves to the cobalt deposits of the Democratic Republic of Congo.<\/p>\n

For the past six years, German photographer Tom Hegen<\/a> has been traveling the globe to document the communities bearing the brunt of this transition. Through his signature aerial images<\/a>, Hegen captures the landscapes and communities transformed by such extractions, which he presents in his new book, The Mineral Age<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Evaporation ponds for lithium production, Atacama Desert, Antofagasta Region, Chile, 2021<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhat particularly caught my attention was that many of these resources are concentrated in just a handful of countries, creating new geopolitical dependencies and vulnerabilities,\u201d Hegen tells Colossal. \u201cAt the same time, their extraction often comes with significant environmental and social consequences that receive relatively little public attention.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Mineral Age<\/em> redresses that omission through 247 photographs revealing the indelible effects of mining. We bear witness to the candy-colored evaporation ponds needed to harvest lithium in the Atacama Desert, along with an ochre-tinged nickel pit jutting up against a rainforest in Sulawesi, Indonesia. \u201cMoving away from fossil fuels is far more complex than we might initially imagine. I firmly believe that decarbonising our economies and societies is essential to addressing climate change,\u201d he adds. \u201cThe pressing question, however, is at what cost\u2014and who ultimately bears that cost?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hegen echoes the concerns of communities around the world, including those of the Salinas Grandes in the Atacama Desert. We recently wrote about the collaborative project<\/a> helmed by Argentinian artist Tom\u00e1s Saraceno, who\u2019s been collaborating with Indigenous peoples in the region for decades as they protest lithium mining. Together, they\u2019re working to preserve the ancestral homelands and the resources held underground. Revealing the impacts from the air, The Mineral Age<\/em> is a converse to Saraceno\u2019s project, which is embedded in the land itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most important lessons I\u2019ve taken from this project is that no source of energy comes entirely without environmental or social consequences,\u201d Hegen says. \u201cEven technologies we consider clean or renewable depend on extensive industrial processes, vast amounts of raw materials, and the extraction of finite resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Nickel open-pit mine encroaching on primary rainforest, Sulawesi, Indonesia, 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like Saraceno, Hegen also emphasizes that this conversation isn\u2019t about whether we need to abandon fossil fuels\u2014both agree we do\u2014but rather about how we can do so without replicating the same harmful, extractive policies of our current system.<\/p>\n

Published by Hatje Cantz, The Mineral Age<\/em> is available for pre-order on Bookshop<\/a> or through Kickstarter<\/a>. Follow his latest projects on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Artisanal cobalt mining field with active and abandoned shafts, Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Open-pit rare earth mine, Mount Weld mine, Western Australia, Australia, 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Morenci Mine, Arizona, United States, 2021<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Exploited terraced open pit, Chino Mine, New Mexico, United States, 2021<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Tom Hegen\u2019s \u2018The Mineral Age\u2019 Documents the Indelible Effects of the Green Transition<\/a> appeared first on Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In its current form, the global transition away from fossil fuels will depend on the earth\u2019s rare minerals. According to ClimateWorks, we\u2019ll collectively need to mine 6.5 billion tons of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8881\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}