As a fanatic collector I have a fascination for transience, especially for things that have been forgotten, demolished or neglected. In this era, throwing stuff away has never been such a part of our culture. I love telling stories with traces of human beings present, the absence of humanity.

My latest project, Garzweiler, is a brown coal mine situated in Germany, next to the border with Limburg. In this gigantic area, the earth has been torn open and transformed into an enormous crater. The excavation will continue until 2044. I’m fascinated by the transition and the decay which this process entails: surrounding villages are swallowed up by the brown coal mine, slowly but surely making them deserted. The pictures I take in this area are about memories and places left behind that I want to revive. The fact that this area will be completely gone in 28 years seems unreal to me.