The demand for minerals around the world has increased significantly and the world of mining is big business whether you’re manufacturing the conveyor belts or providing the catering facilities.
In this instance, the substance is salt and it’s several hundred feet underground. Photographer, Adrian Waine has worked in a wide range of places – from docks to tank interiors – but this latest assignment has been a new and different experience. Getting closer to the raw material is what this project has been all about, right up to the cutting face and to make matters more challenging… in the dark.
Riding down the shaft only took a minute or two, but the adventure really started 500ft down where a ten minute truck drive took us to the real action. A gigantic rock salt cutter, the size of a combine harvester, was being assembled in a construction zone somewhere deep beneath the Cheshire countryside. Having carted the usual lighting kit down under, the next stage was to arrange a variety of shots of electricians and engineers threading cables and coupling hydraulic hoses around the steel framework. In this atmosphere of cool calmness I reflected on my good fortune – in being able to access yet another remarkable location by virtue of my profession. Lucky me!
Six hours later it was time for off…back up to the sunlight where the autumn colours of the trees looked much more vivid than they had earlier. But I was emerging from the darkness with dozens of great shots which will soon be seen around the world, illustrating literature and trade displays at major exhibitions.
This winter, when darkness falls and the flashing gritters take to the highways, I’ll feel a new found respect for the humble salt crystal. It’s chemistry after all!
Adrian Waine
Photography for Industry
www.photographyforindustry.com
adrianwaine@btopenworld.com
Tel. 0151 356 3855
