Strong Roots Still Grow
by Jurek Nosek
portfolio special mention call 'Urbanautica Institute Awards 2025', 2025
Category: Nature, Environment and Perspectives
Strong Roots Still Grow is a long-term project examining the relationship between nature and the extractive industry at a time when the region is undergoing dynamic transformations caused by the cessation of zinc and lead ore mining.
At the beginning of 2022, following the closure of the Olkusz mine and the discontinuation of mine dewatering, a rapid rise in groundwater levels occurred. This led to the formation of hundreds of sinkholes and uncontrolled flood zones across the region, resulting in the emergence of new, surreal ecosystems in which life is now gradually beginning to reappear after decades of exploitation.
The photographs serve as a conceptual documentation of this changing landscape and also record a shift in the way humans function within these new ecosystems, altering their original purpose and acknowledging that these processes can no longer be controlled.