Pauline Chardin

The area around Estremoz, in the Alentejo, is dotted with marble quarries, this one is the deepest of them. I had the chance of wandering there after hours, walking among the freshly cut blocks, stepping in white mud and leaning into the mesmerizing pit, hypnotized by the turquoise waters at the bottom. The hole is more than a hundred meters deep, vertigo never felt so real. How unreal is this place? you can’t seem to make sense if its scale, the bulldozers below look like fragile toys, the tools on the floor seem archaic compared to the task at hand. Are humans really working here?