“Bitterness will kill you quicker than coal ash.” The people of Walnut Cove, North Carolina live in the shadow of Duke Energy’s Belews Creek Steam Station, where toxic coal ash is kept in a massive unlined storage pond, and toxins are pumped into the air, water, and soil. Will Warasila spent a year and a half getting to know the residents, the landscape, the structures of energy and power. 

As America grapples with the contradictions of staking financial dependence on damaging industries, Warasila confronts these issues with a steady gaze, his images a lyrical view into the things we hold most dear: family, health, and home. Accompanied by an essay by Alexa Dilworth. Editor is Shane Rocheleau.

Will Warasila is a photographer based in Durham, NC. After receiving a BFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts, Warasila received an MFA in Experimental and Documentary Arts at Duke University. Increasingly, he has found his subjects outside of the urban landscape.

Gnomic Books, 2022
First edition of 500

10.25” x 13”

100 pages