Project Description

Up close, the scale becomes real.

Step away from the wide view and the Ward Cove Pulp Mill reveals itself in layers. Corrugated metal walls streaked with decades of rain and rust. Pipes that once carried the lifeblood of an industrial operation now sitting silent, seized with corrosion, half-swallowed by brush. A broken window. Peeling paint. And behind it all, a snow-capped Southeast Alaska peak that was there long before the mill arrived and will be there long after the last wall falls.

There’s something about industrial decay at this scale that puts things in perspective. This building processed timber that shipped around the world. Hundreds of workers walked these grounds every day. Now the moss is moving in and the alder is reclaiming the fence line.

The mountains are patient. They’ll be here for the whole thing.