Rock Anatomy

For much of the 20th century the Jos Plateau in Nigeria was recklessly exploited by British colonial companies for tin and rare minerals. Rock Anatomy personalizes this history and its enduring impact, which Abraham Oghobase studied at length in 2017 through archaeological methods and archival research. Photographed and layered onto self-portraits modeled after mug shots, the rock and mineral specimens he collected read like tumors. The work makes it appear as if Oghobase’s research into the environmental impact of British mining has brought upon himself a criminal sentence and a disfiguring cancer, echoing climate change’s pernicious effects on human health.