Aerial and landscape photographer Alexander Heilner has always been interested in how the artificial and the natural coexist.
For the past 25 years he's explored this concept on large and small scales.
"I’m really interested in the idea that all the things we build are actually mark-making across the earth, and it's artistic in some way, but not initially," he told Business Insider.
His mission to document railroads, housing developments, and potash mines that have altered the landscape has made for some georgous and thought-provoking work.
Keep scrolling for the photos, the stories, and more about the man behind the lens.
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Heilner discovered mesmerizing potash mines in Utah while on a cross-country commercial flight. They immediately caught his eye and he knew he had to come back to photograph them.
Potash is a high potassium compound that's a major ingredient in fertilizers used by farmers across North America. "If you ate any vegetables today, and they were grown in America, there’s a decent chance that potash from this mine helped grow it," says Heilner.
Potash is produced in desert regions where inland seas or lakes have dried out. As the water evaporates, it leaves behind potassium salt deposits. Over time, sediment buries these deposits and they become potash ore, which is soluble. These mines pump the potash all the way to the surface of the water held in these "evaporation pools."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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