Yoshihiro Hagiwara was born in Gunma Prefecture in 1961, and since graduating from the Department of Fine Arts at Nihon University in 1985 has been a professional photographer, spending over 20 years at Mainichi Shimbun, one of Japan’s major newspapers. Pursuing his own personal photography, he won a newcomer’s prize at Photo City Sagamihara in 2001, and in 2010 won a special prize at the Higashikawa International Photo Festival. Two books of his photography have been published — the 2004 Kyokan Zanei, and Snowy in 2008. (Both books are available in the Japan Exposures bookstore.)

The photo above comes from his “Kyokan Zanei” series, which explores the various shut down and abandoned coal (and other) mines throughout Japan, which Hagiwara has been visiting and photographing for 30 years.