These incredible photos of slate mines show the mystery hidden deep beneath the ground in Wales. Gareth Owen has been exploring mines for around five years and has photographed many sites across North Wales—showcasing the beauty of nature underground. The 32-year-old, who works as an electrician, captured the collection of images which show the cavernous mine perfectly preserved with boots, lanterns, and tools. Gareth, who abseils to photograph the trickiest spots, likes to capture items left behind by miners because many items show the vast size of the sites. “My images include artefacts we find in these sites left behind by the miners, I quite often include someone in the pictures to show scale to the vast size of some of these sites,” he said. Gareth uses a variety of special techniques and safety procedures to get the best shots in difficult conditions. He added, “I have slowly gained the …