Tom Hegen's 'The Mineral Age': 247 Aerial Photos of Mining's Cost

Tom Hegen's new book The Mineral Age compiles 247 aerial photographs shot across six years in mining regions including Chile's Atacama Desert, Sulawesi in Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The images cover the landscapes and communities shaped by extraction of the minerals driving the global energy transition: lithium evaporation ponds, ochre nickel pits bordering rainforest, and similar terrain. Hegen is a German photographer known for large-scale aerial work on industrial and environmental subjects.