National Geographic - USA (2020-04)

To make this portrait,
photographer Pete
Muller asked Hunter
Valley resident John
Lamb to show him the
road he drives—miles
out of his way—to avoid
coal mines that domi-
nate the area. “You see
the devastation of the
mine, the moonscape,”
says Lamb. “Whatever
great feeling you had is
gone.” His wife, Denise,
agrees. “Everything is
covered in this black
dust,” she says, wiping
a hand on a patio table
to show the grime. “No
matter how much I try,
I’m losing that battle.”