The tiny island of Nauru lies 60km south of the equator in the Pacific Ocean. Phosphate deposits formed from seabird guano once financed the world’s wealthiest welfare state for its 10,000 inhabitants. But mining profits were dissipated and the landscape was left ravaged. Nauru now receives aid for operating refugee centres as part of Australia’s Pacific Solution of sending asylum seekers to detention facilities on Pacific island nations. In a series of colour photographs, Phosphorescence examines different daylight values on Nauru, its tropical landscapes, buildings, and industrial zones.

Roger Palmer, *1946 in Portsmouth, England. Lives and works in Glasgow, Scotland.