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Helene Schmitz’s work is a photographic account of the unprecedented extraction and depletion of natural resources in Sweden. “Dreamland” consists of two photography series that examine human-induced changes in bedrock and forest at two different locations: “The Bedrock” focuses on the Aitik mine outside Gällivare and “The Forest” displays the aftermath of a forest fire in former production forests of Västmanland.

Schmitz links her photographs to the rich tradition of landscape painting, using a large-format, analogue camera that lets the spectator observe both the overall vista and the small details.She calls her photographs in the “Dreamland” series “a meditation on man’s relation to nature—a global, highly industrialized and automated transformation of landscapes.”