The photographs in this collection are part of larger body of work that examines how the built environment is managed in Nordic cities. It documents how we manage the snow that falls in public and private spaces - on our city streets and shopping mall parking lots - and how we keep them safe for people and vehicles in our car-based culture in the northern parts of North America.

My friend’s 12 year-old son from the southern part of North America once asked me ‘But where do you put all that snow?’ So in the 24 hours of March 11-12, 2025, I set out to answer him with my camera. I ventured out to different neighbourhoods of our National Capital Region to photograph the results of the work of snow removal crews.

The size and scale of the city snow dumps were extraordinary and unexpected. The mountain ranges and peaks of Iceland or ‘Mordor’ of the Lord of the Rings are created by snow removal every year. Created from snow, ice, gravel, calcium, salt, tar, rubber and rubbish. And then they disappear by summer only to be re-created next winter…