Tales from the City of Gold

In sensitive landscapes, British photographer Jason Larkin explores the vast tailings, waste dumps created by Johannesburg's historic gold-mining industry, a territory where history, economy, and contemporary South Africa collide.

Over the decades, life on and around these dormant and toxic remains has developed. However, as the price of gold escalates, the latent gold in older dumps makes reprocessing of these historic mounds an economic reality. The removal is seen by most as positive, but for the thousands whose lives have developed around them, life is uncertain as Johannesburg moves into a new chapter of its ongoing history.