Frankie Carino is a photographer and sculptor based in Los Angeles. Focused on the junction between human and geological time, his recent work features places and happenings where the earth is at its most fragile and extreme, noting— “rocks and landscapes have always embodied an idea of permanence for me, but as our climate enters a more extreme phase, exiting the holocene, we are quickly learning nothing is forever.”

While searching for ice caves to photograph, he came across “ice castles” constructed at various resorts as winter attractions. “I loved this idea of making massive ice sculptures just to melt away and rebuild the following year,” he explains. Made through the same processes as glaciers or other large deposits of minerals, the geological cycle of the castles has been drastically shortened. “A collection of wonderful people work hard behind a hotel to create this uniquely human landscape. The construction requires a huge amount of water and human power, arguably an irresponsible amount, seeing the entire thing is gone by April. But the result is a beautiful display of humans’ deep fascination with minerals.”

See more from Frankie Carino below!