Colin Smith

Artist Statement

I am a visual artist that uses photography and video to capture the forgotten, the ignored and the neglected. My work usually involves showing the aftermath of collapsing institutions, fading economies, and environmental struggles.

In my latest series Exsanguination, I have spent parts of the last 17 years capturing the slow decline of the Anthracite coal region of central Pennsylvania. Central Pennsylvania in the was once a thriving coal mining community from the late 1800’s until about the 1970’s. As time and the economy shifted, towns, mining communities and the industry itself have faced decline and abandonment. I move to capture and show these conditions without humans. Sometimes a greater impact is to see what was without people.

The fading economic conditions are just a mask to a greater horror. Thousands of abandoned mines have leaked acid mine drainage. Imagine orange, brown, red and even blue waters, carrying heavy metals into major water ways, causing an abundance of issues. These issues can stem from suffocating life in these water ways, to potentially causing heavy metal exposure health issues to anyone exposed long enough.

However, polluted water is not the only environmental issue. In some areas there are coal waste piles as tall as tiny mountains that hover over towns. And even more shocking there are underground fires that start at old abandoned mines, some have burned uncontrollably underground that causing fissuring and steam to the surface. The oldest mine fire is still burning 110 years later.

While coal was used for heat and energy, the short term greed, lack of care for the long term effects caused impacts on the community and their environments. While energy is a necessity, it also comes with a cost. My work is a look at that cost.