Sunsetting 64 megatons is a photographic inquiry that began in 2024, rooted in my return to Secunda, South Africa—a town I first encountered in 2018 as a contractor at its iconic SASOL factory. This return represents both a personal reckoning and a broader exploration of industrial decline, environmental impact, and community transformation.

Established in 1975 during the apartheid era, Secunda was purpose-built around the SASOL Coal-to-Liquid facility. My Dutch-French heritage and education in Dutch Reformed schools links me to the colonial forces that shaped South Africa and the religious justifications for apartheid that enabled SASOL's creation. The factory's flares, which once felt like they were burning through my soul during periods of intense work-related travel, have become metaphors for the complex relationship between industrial might and human vulnerability.

Beyond its environmental impact as the world's largest single-point emitter of greenhouse gases, SASOL remains South Africa's largest taxpayer, creating complex dependencies. Not only are livelihoods tightly bound to its output, but the maintenance of fly ash dams and other environmental precautions depends on SASOL's continued revenue—if the company falters financially, the environmental aftermath could be devastating.

Working collaboratively with young people from diverse backgrounds—Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa, and Coloured—I navigate Secunda's complex social terrain. These local collaborators guide me to inaccessible places and share their stories in their native tongues, creating a multilayered narrative with recorded voices providing crucial context to the visual work.

Drawing on archival materials, historical maps, my personal experience, and conversations with researchers and policy advisors, I weave together past and present, capturing the tension between industrial scale and natural fragility. Security gates, dogs, birds' nests, and subtle environmental details appear alongside portraits and industrial landscapes.

Through Sunsetting 64 megatons, I aim to provoke viewers to critically examine the invisible infrastructure behind our daily consumption patterns. As climate imperatives force industrial transitions, what becomes of these monumental sites and the communities anchored to them? This project invites reflection on our collective responsibility for these spaces while I simultaneously seek personal resolution—sunsetting SASOL Secunda not only as a place facing decline but as a chapter in my own history that demands understanding.

photography