Not sure if this belongs here or elsewhere. I’ll leave it to the mods if it needs to be moved.
The life blood of the tiny town of Bissett in northeastern Manitoba is the gold mine around which it was built. But the mine is just about tapped out and who can say what will happen to Bissett then. I took this picture the evening before we were set to board the bush-plane that would take us, our canoe and our gear into the interior for a month-long paddle. The sky made me think that the End Time had arrived, not only for the gold mine but Bissett itself. Any thoughts, feelings or suggestion would be much appreciated.
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Kerry,
That is one ominous looking sky, particularly the cloud behind the building. It appears to have this circular motion toward the top as though it was going to take everything in it’s path up toward the heavens. Hopefully the mine does not leave a super fund site for others to clean up after it shutters it’s operation. Maybe with a little luck the town can survive it’s closing. My only suggestion would be to clone out the strip of water in the LRC.
This is lovely, and that sky does look rather apocalyptic. The color of the buildings, though, while not cheerful, is somewhat cheery. And they look rather well maintained, so I don’t get the sense of impending doom. That mood probably would be better conveyed with a b&w rendition. Nonetheless, I find this quite appealing as a documentary photo.
@Ed_Lowe - thanks for your feedback. I’d be interested as to why you think I should clone out the water in the lower left. To me it feels rather innocuous, tonally consistent and not particularly distracting and just gives the reader a hint that this complex is on the water.
@Bonnie_Lampley - thanks for your feedback, Bonnie. I think I’m guilty of saying too much about some of my images. Whether this mine is set to close down is essentially irrelevant . What is relevant is simply the euclidian geometry of the architecture set against the (as you put it) apocalyptic, fractal geometry of the clouds. This wasn’t meant to be a commentary on the mining industry (although I do have thoughts on that too 
)
I think this is a good photojournalistic image with a story - industry belching it’s refuse into the air. The darker clouds over that tower make the point for me.
@Igor_Doncov A friend of mine paid me the highest possible compliment by saying this image had a Burtynsky-esque feel to it. What he meant by that was finding beauty in the “ugliness” of the human footprint in the natural world. There is something about this refinery that I find fundamentally ugly given all that I know about gold mining . But the sky was so dynamic and the light it shed on the orange building, so vibrant, that I was able to see something beautiful coming through and even despite that ugliness.
The comments here about this mine being an environmental eyesore, remind me of a Painting by
Ben Shahn called “All That is Beautiful.” It is a picture of ugly cranes in a city construction project. Yes, this image does make a strong environmental statement. The sky looks as if it could dismantle the silo on the mine were it to get a bit lower. The ominous look of the sky relates to the ominous impact of the mine. Might you clone out that car or debris near the lower left just behind the grass. It is a small distraction to me. I like the image a lot.
This photo really tells a story. The ominous clouds portent the fate of the mine and town. Compositionally, the shape of the clouds echoes that of the buildings. I like the duo tone quality of the photo.
Kerry,
This just just my personal preference, but for me the water is one of those elements where I would like to see more of it or none at all.