Where the Dust Settles

Abandoned quarries have a life of their own.

Once the machinery leaves and mining comes to an end, it seems as though time stands still. But it doesn't. The quarry keeps changing — only now without people. Watching that process unfold is just as fascinating as watching the quarry in its working days.

The first thing you notice is the dust.

All it takes is a light breeze for it to begin drifting across the ground. Sometimes it feels as though the quarry creates its own weather.

Day after day, the wind carries sand from place to place, shaping miniature dunes and low sandy ridges.

Where water still lingers, birds begin to appear. Gulls circle above the small lakes and settle on sandy shallows, as if the quarry had always belonged to them. It's hard to believe that heavy machinery was working here not so long ago.

Here and there, abandoned buildings still stand. Slowly falling apart, they remain as reminders that this place was once alive with work.

One more thing almost every abandoned quarry has is its roads. Even before you reach the quarry, the car gathers a thin layer of pale dust. And by the time you head home, you realize you've carried away a small piece of this strange, quiet world.

Southern Urals, Russia.
June, 2020.
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