Mateo Ruiz Gonzalez

Color Piedra Caliza (Limestone Rock Color) - Ongoing

At the beginning of 1940, the exploitation of limestone resources came to Colombia with the creation of the first cement factory, "Cementos Samper." The new boom of limestone mining brought with it a prosperous demand for jobs and opportunities for the inhabitants of the mountainous region surrounding Bogota, the capital of the country.

Decades later, the deterioration of the surrounding nature was notorious; the contamination of the water, an increase in respiratory diseases and the inadequate use of resources in the area forced the closure of the mine and factory, causing a collapse not only financially, but also psychologically in the inhabitants of the area.

Color Piedra Caliza explores the constant changes between mankind, nature and the unfinished blend between the two. Set in Colombia in the middle of the prosperous valleys of the northern Andes mountains, this series navigates a territory of absence and ruins, where the unthoughtful development of the Caliza (limestone) industry left a vast trauma in the small towns around the region.

Brooklyn, NY, USA

OPEN PROJECT

TTWU

Then There Was Us
Then There Was Us
Then There Was Us
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Then There Was Us
Then There Was Us
Then There Was Us
Then There Was Us
Then There Was Us
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Then There Was Us