Mitch Epstein, American Power Series, 2003-2009

Mitch Epstein, Amos Coal Power Plant, Raymond, West Virginia 2004

Mitch Epstein, BP Carson Refinery, California, 2007

Mitch Epstein is an American photographer that works in series of topics that he finds interesting or important. Epstein won the Prix Pictet in 2012 for his work on American Power. the Prix Pictet is an international photography award given to a photographer for environmentalism. 

For the series American Power, Epstein traveled across the United States in search of the impact of what creates energy in America. The series explores societies impact on the American landscape. He started at Cheshire, Ohio were the American Electric Power Company bought out the entire town and bulldozed it. The image of Amos Coal Plant is really someones backyard. someone lives there, has that view of the cooling towers, breathes the emissions from the towers, and if anything goes wrong will be that close to disaster. Epstein also has images of people playing football on a football field right next to another power plant. He realized that the effects of energy could be felt everywhere in the United States. Epstein also shows that even though it does damage, it also is people’s livelihoods.