Abandoned mines in Mazarrón in black and white 1/5

by byRienk photography

Under a threatening cloudy sky on a rainy day stand the weathered and abandoned mine buildings of Mazarrón in Murcia, Spain. The landscape bears the marks of former mining activity: rough ground, crumbling walls and a chimney rising above the ruins. A faint, watery ray of sunshine is still trying to break through. The gully in the foreground leads to the spot where it all used to happen.

I was struck by the convergence of silence, decay and light. Where people once worked hard, time and nature are slowly taking over. This location is known for its colours, but I deliberately chose not to show the colours; instead, I wanted to capture the various textures of the terrain and the weathered buildings. The light part of the sky contrasts with the dark contours of the mining complex, lending the image a raw and mysterious atmosphere.

This first photograph, out of a total of five, forms part of my series ‘Monochrome echoes from the past’, in which I capture the beauty and character of this abandoned place. An image to linger over, with details that reveal themselves gradually.

The black-and-white tones suit an industrial or minimalist interior, but also provide a subtle contrast to warm colours and natural materials.