For some reason, I have always liked photographing old junk. When I was shooting black and white film for my photography classes in college, I was always attracted to old junk yards, abandoned cars, etc, etc. While I was driving around the Laverton area, I cam across one of the many junk piles that you find scattered throughout the outback. These places always make me wonder how and why the objects ended up here. For example, how the hell did somebody leave an entire campervan in ditch? A wrong turn? A camping trip gone wrong? Who knows…
After a little time off to show some friends around Perth, I am back out in Laverton. To get out here, I fly on a chartered plane that brings mining workers out from Perth to the Murrin Murrin Nickel Mine (about 70km from Laverton) for their two-week shifts. Minara Resources, the company that owns Murrin Murrin is gracious enough to let me hop on their planes. Without them I probably couldn’t do my project logistically.
As for the mine, Murrin Murrin is the world’s 5th largest Nickel mine and it is really amazing to see the logistics that go into getting that nickel out of the ground and keeping the 1,000 or so employees living happily in the outback. I tried to look at a diagram showing the mining process but a little part of my brain exploded. Here are a couple of photos from the plane while flying in today:
The Murrin Murrin Nickel Mine seen from the air
Wow! I really love the last one. The glass of the plane makes it look like it’s tilt and shift.