Stuart Bell, NaCl (PLACES 2025)

Captive sea water forms the basis and key ingredient for many applications of our daily lives, like detergents and soaps as an example. Solar, plus wind evaporation, and time is all that’s required to turn saline liquid into a gleaming white stockpile of salt, ready for export. The two Western Australian operations, Dampier and Port Hedland (pictured) have between them 53 salination ponds across 20,000 hectares or just under 50,000 acres. Port Hedland, Western Australia.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.