An upcoming photography exhibit at the Tamaqua Arts Center will showcase area’s rich Anthracite coal mining heritage.

Ed Dougert’s “The Black Land, Remnants of the Pennsylvania Anthracite Industry” opens Thursday from the 125 Pine St. center, and includes a meet and greet from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public.

Dougert’s photography takes viewers to Pennsylvania’s anthracite region to see miners’ homes in Mahanoy City, the still-burning mines in Centralia, and a gangway to an abandoned mine in Lansford.

Area churches, mine shafts and coal breakers are also featured in the predominantly black-and-white exhibit.

A Philadelphia native, Dougert graduated from Temple University and works in the defense industry. For more than two decades, he has been photographically interpreting the legacy of the northeastern Pennsylvania coal region.

“My main interest since 1999 has been photographing the anthracite coal region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. For nearly 200 years, mining dominated all aspects of life in this area. Although the industry declined after WWI, the physical, social, and environmental consequences reverberate to the present,” he said. “My effort is to present a portrait of the area stressing the transformation of the land by the mining operations and the economic and social history through documenting the structures in and around the towns and villages.”

He said his photos represent a part of the flavor of what is the coal region of Pennsylvania.

“Each picture has history behind it and alludes to a piece of the total story,” he said.

For more information on Dougert, visit www.theblackland.com. The arts center can be found on Facebook and www.tamaquaarts.org.