I traveled to Baotou, Inner Mongolia in 2019 to make this series of photographs about the rare earth mining industry. Baotou is the ‘rare earth mining capital of the world.’ Rare earth elements are essential in making digital cameras, as well as most computer screens and batteries. Rare earth mining is a highly polluting industry and results in grave damage to the environment and public health. I chose to work with the idiom of commercial stock photography to avoid censorship from local authorities and produce hybrid images that simultaneously function as documentary as well as blanks for commercial advertising.
