541 Million Years

These photographs are different views of the same piece of mineral fluorite. Comprised of calcium and fluorine, these minerals have multiple uses in human industry, including in the lenses of optical equipment such as telescopes, microscopes and cameras. Most commonly, the mineral is used in the production of hydrofluoric acid, used in pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals.

A result of the Phanerzoic era, this mineral has been formed sometime in the past 541 million years. Arguably, it is the mineral that is witness to the camera and photographer who can only attempt to compress millions of years of complex evolution into a fraction of a second.