COAL MINING IN A SMALL TOWN
A photographer brings mining into stark relief inColstrip, Montana.
Coal storage area and railroad tipple, Colstrip, Montana, 1984. The photographer documented the town during the early 1980s.Photo:Photograph by David Hanson
COAL MINING IN A SMALL TOWN
A photographer brings mining into stark relief in Colstrip, Montana.
Strip mine, power plant, and waste ponds
Photo:Photograph by David Hanson
COAL MINING IN A SMALL TOWN
A photographer brings mining into stark relief in Colstrip, Montana.
View from State Highway 39: Sagebrush Court and power plant
Photo:Photograph by David Hanson
COAL MINING IN A SMALL TOWN
A photographer brings mining into stark relief in Colstrip, Montana.
Power plant, cooling towers, and railroad spur
Photo:Photograph by David Hanson
COAL MINING IN A SMALL TOWN
A photographer brings mining into stark relief in Colstrip, Montana.
View from Sarpy Creek Road: new mine area and spoil piles
Photo:Photograph by David Hanson
COAL MINING IN A SMALL TOWN
A photographer brings mining into stark relief in Colstrip, Montana.
Power plant, waste ponds, and mobile homes
Photo:Photograph by David Hanson
COAL MINING IN A SMALL TOWN
A photographer brings mining into stark relief in Colstrip, Montana.
View from Power Road: Ash Street and company houses
Photo:Photograph by David Hanson
COAL MINING IN A SMALL TOWN
A photographer brings mining into stark relief in Colstrip, Montana.
Mine spoil piles and intersected water table
Photo:Photograph by David Hanson
COAL MINING IN A SMALL TOWN
A photographer brings mining into stark relief in Colstrip, Montana.
Pulpit, First Baptist Church of Colstrip
Photo:Photograph by David Hanson
COAL MINING IN A SMALL TOWN
A photographer brings mining into stark relief in Colstrip, Montana.
Unreclaimed mine land from the 1930s
Photo:Photograph by David Hanson
COAL MINING IN A SMALL TOWN
A photographer brings mining into stark relief in Colstrip, Montana.
View from North Camper Village: power switching yard
Photo:Photograph by David Hanson
COAL MINING IN A SMALL TOWN
A photographer brings mining into stark relief in Colstrip, Montana.
Burtco RV Court and power switching yard
Photo:Photograph by David Hanson
COAL MINING IN A SMALL TOWN
A photographer brings mining into stark relief in Colstrip, Montana.
Mine pit, dragline, and spoil piles, 1984
Photo:Photograph by David Hanson
COAL MINING IN A SMALL TOWN
A photographer brings mining into stark relief in Colstrip, Montana.
Cooling towers and administration parking lot
Photo:Photograph by David Hanson
COAL MINING IN A SMALL TOWN
A photographer brings mining into stark relief in Colstrip, Montana.
Waste pond
Photo:Photograph by David Hanson
COAL MINING IN A SMALL TOWN
A photographer brings mining into stark relief in Colstrip, Montana.
The Colstrip plant’s cooling towers and railroad spur, 1983. Today Rosebud mine, the source of the town’s coal, covers 50 square miles.
Photo:Photograph by David Hanson
David T. Hanson was born and raised in Montana, not far from Colstrip. After majoring in English Literature at Stanford University, he earned an M.F.A. in Photography from Rhode Island School of Design and taught there in the departments of Photography and Landscape Architecture from 1983-2000. He has received a number of awards for his work, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships. One of Hanson’s aerial views of Colstrip was selected by New York Times’ photography critic Vicki Goldberg as one of the 100 most important photographs of the 20th century. He makes his home in Iowa. A special collector’s edition of Colstrip, Montana is available from Taverner Press. For more information, visit www.davidthanson.net.
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