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Portrait - Noam Zur
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The series, created in collaboration with my friend and photographer Jonas Glanz, explores the presence and use of slate in the Sauerland region of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW).
Slate mining has shaped the landscape in Sauerland in many ways. Underground mining alters the landscape invisibly to most people, while surface mining creates new hills, mountains, and depressions. Slate is found almost everywhere in Sauerland – as roofing material, masonry, and house cladding – and thus significantly shapes the region.
This series captures the aesthetics of genuine slate and contrasts it with synthetic imitations used in modern buildings. It comments on the tensions between tradition and modernity. There is often a contradiction between the use of slate and traditional timber framing, with slate being given greater importance.