Orphan Wells

Photographs by Meghan L.E. Kirkwood. Text by Daegan Miller.

A photographer examines derelict oil industry infrastructure in northwest Louisiana, where unprofitable but still productive wells have been abandoned to the public’s care, and trees and vines and grasses are taking over.

Pumpjacks rusting in the woods. Derelict storage tanks. Pipes, wires, cables, weeds. In northwest Louisiana, thousands of oil wells have been abandoned, but remain ruinously polluting.

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Columnists

  • Aaron Rothman
  • Keith Eggener

Aaron Rothman

Aaron Rothman is a columnist for Places. A monograph of his artwork, Signal Noise, is forthcoming from Radius Books.

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Shannon Mattern

Shannon Mattern is a columnist for Places. She is a professor of anthropology at The New School in New York City.

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Keith Eggener

Keith Eggener is a columnist for Places. He is Marion Dean Ross Professor of Architectural History at the University of Oregon.

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Gabrielle Esperdy

Gabrielle Esperdy is a professor of architecture at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and a columnist for Places.

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Series

The Inequality Chronicles

The Inequality Chronicles features detailed explorations of racial, economic, and social inequities — from historical roots to contemporary effects — in major U.S. cities.

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