The series Nitrate Pampa documents the abandoned nitrate-mining towns of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these settlements formed the center of a vast saltpeter industry that shaped the economy and geopolitics of the region. With the invention of synthetic fertilizers in the early twentieth century, the industry declined and many of these towns were gradually abandoned.
Today the desert preserves their buildings, machinery, and traces of daily life as remnants of an intense industrial era. This photographic series looks at these places as they stand today, where the scale of the industry remains visible in the architecture, the landscape, and the silence that followed its collapse.
The project developed alongside the series False Memory, produced with support from Mexico’s Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte (SNCA) of the Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes.
Anibal Pinto Saltpeter Office.
The Pampa salitrera of Chile (1890).
Explosives plant, Calama.
Pampa Unión. Former Bolivian territory. Pampa Unión, in Chile's Antofagasta region, was a thriving town in the late 19th century due to rich saltpeter deposits. Originally under Bolivian sovereignty, the area gained significance before the War of the Pacific (1879-1884), attracting economic development and international interest. At its peak, Pampa Unión was a bustling center for the saltpeter industry. However, the early 20th century saw the industry's decline with the advent of synthetic alternatives, leading to the town's abandonment. Today, Pampa Unión stands as a ghost town, symbolizing the rise and fall of the saltpeter industry and the territorial changes resulting from the War of the Pacific.
Nitroglycerin transport cart. Calama, Chile.
Nitroglycerine. Explosives plant, Calama.
Mold for dynamite production. Explosives plant, Calama.
Archive image
Pedro de Valdivia.
A black and white photo of an abandoned, weathered building with broken windows and graffiti on the wall, under a dark cloudy sky.
A row of unfinished, weathered adobe buildings with open doorways and crooked windows under a blue sky with wispy clouds, in a desert setting.
A faded pink stucco wall with the words 'CHAMORRO NATA RE' carved into it.
Empty, unfinished room with rough floor, a worn-out wooden shelf, slightly open door, and minimal lighting, indicating construction or renovation in progress.
Deserted, partially ruined adobe buildings under a blue sky with wispy clouds.
A black and white photograph of a weathered house with graffiti on the wall, three small windows with bars, and two chairs outside with a bowl on one. The ground is rough and barren, with a cloudy sky overhead.
A badge featuring a hiker with mountains and a sunset in the background, labeled 'I. Municipalidad Maria Elena Pampa Salitre Y Sol'.
Archive image
Two large yellow boats on flatbed trucks in a desert landscape under a clear blue sky with clouds and the moon visible.
Black and white photo of a bright sun in the sky shining over mountain range, with a body of water or flat land in the foreground.
Cracked dry earth with sandy hills and a partly cloudy sky.
Owners of Saltpeter Works - Archive image
Pampa Unión. Former Bolivian territory.