Alfredo JaarGold in the Morning (D), 1985
‘Gold in the Morning’ is a pivotal photographic series by Alfredo Jaar that reflects his enduring commitment to documenting injustice and amplifying the dignity of those living and working under extreme conditions. In that year, Jaar travelled to Serra Pelada, a vast open-cast gold mine in northern Brazil where tens of thousands of men laboured in brutal, precarious circumstances, extracting gold by hand from the steep, muddy slopes. Working not from a studio but in direct engagement with lived realities, Jaar approached the site as a “project artist”, embedding himself within the environment to create work that responds to the complexity of place, labour and human endurance. Rejecting sensationalism, he chose instead to frame his subjects with care and restraint, offering images that illuminate both the physical demands and quiet heroism of their daily toil.
The resulting series was presented as a group of large-scale lightboxes containing colour transparency photographs that shimmer with both literal and metaphorical weight. The images depict masses of miners ascending and descending the mined earth, their bodies slick with sweat and mud, framed against the golden hue of the terrain. While visually arresting, the work transcends documentary impulse, functioning instead as a poetic meditation on human effort and systemic exploitation. By rendering each figure visible within the overwhelming scale of the mine, Jaar underscores the individuality of labour within collective struggle. ‘Gold in the Morning’ becomes not just a record of a specific site, but a broader reflection on global inequalities, the cost of wealth and the resilience of those whose stories too often go unseen.
