2020-2021
My hometown county - Bulgaria, is considered to be one of the largest manufacturers and repositories of lead zinc ore. The birth of this project is due to my solemn interest in the lives of the simple people down under- the miners. Miner - a person proud to be oneself willingly working, knowing their health and life is at worst risk. I ache to understand the working of such mind - to love something that physically impairs you. I won’t deny the fact that the access permission for an average guy like me is incredibly difficult to draw and it often ends with a “denied”. Months go by trying to get into a mine, but eventually after the waiting and postponing it becomes all worth it. Every visit is equivalent to the discovery of a new world, miles underground, boiling temperature, a somewhat parallel dimension with a different algorithm, logic and pulse. The work conditions are extremely dangerous, hiding death risks behind every corner. Being around these people I absorb their life stories, I learn about their passions, their dauntless most deep thoughts. Remarcably their only fear being the mines to run out of deposits of ore, since they would starve to death. Another astonishing thing I stumble upon in the underground is that these miners don’t seem to protect themselves. None of them use gas masks, gloves, belts, earpieces or in fact any type of safety equipment.The machinery is incredibly loud and the shattering of rocks creates an immense amount of dust and ash particles. These are extraordinary people who have accepted their life as it is and fearlessly stand up to death. After every visit I always feel overwhelmed for a long period of time.
This is a project dedicated to the people risking their life, body and soul, people working in unimaginably tough conditions just to provide a better life for their loved ones. A project worked through every aspect of their daily life stories knowing it takes place in one of the most lethal settings, and how lead and zinc have become the treasure they fight and work for. The project will contain a detailed manufacturing process not only from the underground but also its dynamic journey to the concentrate of lead and zinc metals.
