J Henry Fair simultaneously captures the beauty and horror of human pollution, from thick oil spills to dirty coal mining
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| Oil from recent BP oil spill |
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| effluvia from aluminum production as it spreads across Earth and sea, staining and changing the ecology of everything in its path. |
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| When bauxite (raw aluminum ore) is processed into aluminum oxide, or alumina, it's first bathed in a solution of sodium hydroxide (lye) at very high temperatures. Aluminum compounds in the bauxite dissolve while other compounds remain behind: iron oxides, sand, clay, some titanium oxides and even radioactive materials, such as uranium or thorium. That resulting red slurry (pictured above) has a lethal pH that can easily destroy plant and animal life, inflict chemical burns and even damage airways if the fumes are inhaled. |
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| herbicide manufacturing waste swirling with limegreen highlights |
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the baby blue brushstrokes of hydro-seeding a mining site
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