KARAGANDA

2015

 

Geographically, Karaganda is the heart Kazakh Upland, city of spoil tips and unlamented Karlag*. The town was founded on the site of the coal seams of the Karaganda coal basin. In 1833 a shepherd boy Appak Baizhanov discovered coal in a found lump. First, the coal was developed by a nearby settlement, and by the end of XIX century a working village evolved in the tract of coal mining basin - Karaganda. The young city is surrounded by vast steppes. In winters snowstorms and blizzards are frequent. I have seen few people on the street in the winter I spent there. This photo series addresses the idea of ​​ everyday “surviving” in the severe conditions through portraits of citizens in their living spaces juxtaposed to urban landscapes.

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* Karlag was one of the largest Gulag labor camps, located in Karaganda

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