A devotee of the Chinese shrine of Kathu Shrine, pierces his cheeks with umbrellas during a procession of Vegetarian Festival on October 4, 2011 in Phuket, Thailand. Ritual Vegetarianism in Phuket Island traces it roots back to the early 1800's. The festival begins on the first evening of the ninth lunar month and lasts for nine days. Participants in the festival perform acts of body piercing as a means of shifting evil spirits from individuals onto themselves and bring the community good luck. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Getty Images)

A devotee of the Chinese shrine of Samkong, pierces his cheeks with toy guns during a procession of Vegetarian Festival on October 11, 2010 in Phuket, Thailand. Ritual Vegetarianism in Phuket Island traces it roots back to the early 1800's. The festival begins on the first evening of the ninth lunar month and lasts for nine days. Participants in the festival perform acts of body piercing as a means of shifting evil spirits from individuals onto themselves and bring the community good luck. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Getty Images)

A woman poses next to a giant mining truck at the entrance of the Dakar Rally camp in Calama, Chile. The truck operates in copper mines near the city. (Photo by Victor R. Caivano/Associated Press)

Two copper sharks ride the waves in Red Bluff Beach, Australia on July, 2020. Professional photographer Sean Scott, 43, from Burleigh Heads, Australia, caught the stunning snap. (Photo by Sean Scott/MediaDrumImages/@seanscottphotography)

Yogis, Israeli and foreigners, participate in the Arava Yoga Annual festival at the ancient copper mines area of the Timna Valley, in the southern Arava region of Israel, north of Eilat on November 2, 2018. (Photo by Menahem Kahana/AFP Photo)

The Rio Tinto river in Spain crosses an ancient mining site which makes the water turn a variety of bright colours. Copper, silver and gold are mined here, as well as iron, which turns the water red. An ochre mix is responsible for the yellow tint of the rest of the river. (Photo by Olivier Jarry-Lancombe/Solent News)

A copper plated Oscar statuette is run through a series of chemical baths at Epner Technology in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Tuesday, January 17, 2017. Every Oscar fist-pumped or tearfully cradled by Academy Award winners is first cast, buffed and fussed over by people far from Hollywood who have spent the last several months making 60 identical gold Oscars for the Feb. 26th awards. (Photo by Seth Wenig/AP Photo)

Poisoned River. Abstract Winner. A detailed photograph of a stream filled with poison. “Poisoned Beauty” is a personal project that tells the story of the natural disaster in the Apuseni Mountains in Transylvania, which was a result of chemical waste generated by copper and gold mining, but in a beautifully abstract way. (Photo by Gheorghe Popa/Drone Photography Awards 2021)