"Four Corners Power Plant, Shiprock, New Mexico. Over 15 million tons of chemical toxins are released into the air each year in the Four Corners Area. Living in the shadow of the nation’s dirtiest power plants the Dine´ People suffer from respiratory disease and cancer from the pollution laden air, soil, and water. A new proposed coal burning power plant, Desert Rock, will seriously add to local and global problems." Photograph © Carlan Tapp/ All rights reserved
"Alice Gilmore stops to rest at her young sister’s grave site. She has been told by the Dine´ Power Authority that her father long ago signed over all their grazing permits to the strip mine. The DPA refuses to show her written records. Her family burial areas, home, and grazing lands will all be destroyed by the new strip mine." Photograph © Carlan Tapp/ All rights reserved
"Many Navajos must drive, on average, 50 miles round trip three to four times a week for their personal water and for their livestock supply since much of existing livestock water has been contaminated by mining activities." Photograph © Carlan Tapp/ All rights reserved
"Bonnie Gilmore listens intently as her mother Alice shares family history and information regarding family ceremonial and burial sites being destroyed by BHP Mining." Photograph © Carlan Tapp/ All rights reserved
"Alice and Bonnie Gilmore approach contractors hired by BHP Mining who were discovered sifting through family burial sites." Photograph © Carlan Tapp/ All rights reserved
"Children intently watch Lucille Willie skillfully hand-shear a sheep, a craft passed down to each generation." Photograph © Carlan Tapp/ All rights reserved
"Asthma in children is doubling every ten years." Photograph © Carlan Tapp/ All rights reserved
Carlan Tapp began his photo essay Question of Power in 2005. His project uses traditional photographic documentary techniques of reportage, portraiture, and landscapes, with the addition of recorded audio interviews. Question of Power are stories and voices of individuals, families, and communities affected by the mining, processing, burning, and storage of waste materials created by coal for this generation of electricity in America. Carlan Tapp: Portrait U.S.A.
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