In Monuments, Alan Gignoux & Chloe Juno document how whole villages in the west of Germany are literally being displaced and dug up to extract lignite/brown coal – the worst kind of coal (both in terms of energy efficiency and pollution).

Gignoux & Juno meticulously document both the landscapes/houses as well as the smaller human artifacts that are left behind in this "no-mans-timezone" of being post-evacuation but pre-destruction.

Having grown close to these regions in Germany, their work has some eerie and unsettling familiarity – the style of the empty and boarded up houses, the advertisement leaflets and other artifacts feel highly familiar but utterly displaced.

Documenting these changes and recklessness of energy providers and politics in the midst of our climate emergency is well worthy the read. While the environmental consequences of these open-pit mines might hit harder on a less obvious level (the mine is also destroying ancient forests), the human impact does well to personalize and give a clearer face to the impact.