Quadraria
by Jonathan Pourchet
portfolio special mention call 'URBANAUTICA INSTITUTE AWARDS 2022', 2022
Category: Nature, Environment and Perspectives
Quarries are an integral part of the Belgian landscape, being located at a short distance from cities (Charleroi, Liège, Tournai,...) which are the main centres of consumption with construction sites. Limestone is extracted for cement, gypsum for plaster and aggregate, from alluvium, for the manufacture of concrete. In short, materials of low to medium added value, their costs must not exceed specific limits. Raw material means exploitation, but how do we get these much-needed elements without destroying part of the ecosystem in the process? It's not black or white, these places exist.
Jonathan Pourchet is a photography student at the Haute Ecole de Bruxelles. Photography is for him an opening on what surrounds us. It allows him access to remote places and yet so close, unsuspected by the general public. It's been seven years since his case followed him and three years since he decided to make it his job.