MONUMENTS

Opencast coal mining has led to the destruction of hundreds of German villages over the last century.  Germany has promised to phase out coal by 2038, but extraction continues, and the future of several villages hangs in the balance.  Combining Alan Gignoux’s photographs of abandoned houses and Chloe Juno’s images of the personal belongings left behind by departing families, Monuments documents and commemorates communities in North-Rhine Westphalia earmarked for demolition.

The two photographers take different approaches to highlighting the erasure of both shared history and collective memory and personal loss.  Gignoux’s images document the destruction of houses, gardens, schools, shops, churches, businesses, roads, the infrastructure of entire communities, while Juno’s photographs are intimate, showing us personal objects that recall individual lives.

Available to pre-order.