A meditation on the paradox of Manifest Destiny by photographer William Mark Sommer from Sacramento, California. “Dusted” offers a series of images that force us to confront the reality of the widely held belief that early settlers were destined to take over the lands of North America — that is, the literal dust left in their wake:

“The spirit of Manifest Destiny flourished within the mining industry as the settlers moved cross-country, building towns and cutting minerals from the mountains. But what happens when the gold goes and the mines cost outweighs its profit? ‘Dusted,’ questions this history of the Manifest Destiny by exploring the impact of mining and revealing what is left behind after the this cyclical mining process has ended and moved on to the next place.”

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