Tomeu Coll

Photographer

Nevermind in Sovietland

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Train abandoned on the track from Vorkuta.

Young coal miner sleeping in th... extraction is in a big crisis.

Young coal miner sleeping in the train. 40 hours separate Moscow from the mines of the Arctic City, where the coal extraction is in a big crisis.

Woman crying in a wagon of the ...e soviet communication networs.

Woman crying in a wagon of the train. Historically, beneath the railroads lie hundreds of human remains from the former workers that build the soviet communication networs.

Circumferential highway of the ... abandoned since the 80's.

Circumferential highway of the city of Vorkuta. The city is surrounded by several coal mines with their respective mines that have been abandoned since the 80's.

People in the bus in Lenin Aven...d neuralgic center of the city.

People in the bus in Lenin Avenue, main street of Vorkuta and neuralgic center of the city.

Ballet dancing class in the Cul...he main street of Lenin Avenue.

Ballet dancing class in the Culture Center of the city, also in the main street of Lenin Avenue.

Even in the springtime the snow... with the two months of summer.

Even in the springtime the snow falls buries the city but that's not a problem for the inhabitants, who feel more happy with the snow than with the two months of summer.

The village of Urshor, 3km sout...ng their communication network.

The village of Urshor, 3km south of Vorkuta, is the next village that is being abandoned. Although 4 inhabitants are still living there, the government wants them out, due to the high cost of maintaining their communication network.

Galina Nikolaievna, (from Germa...needed in the Arctic far north.

Galina Nikolaievna, (from Germany) was a prisoner during the Gulag system. She was condemned as a spy by Stalin, and after the fall of the Soviet Union the government didn't let her go because she was a doctor and the doctors were needed in the Arctic far north.

Alexander G. is the son of a fo...s for the Memorial Association.

Alexander G. is the son of a former prisoner of the Gulag system, a historian and works for the Memorial Association.

Mechanical worker outside the city of Vorkuta.

Alexander Yasnov, driving throu...hat surrounds the main capital.

Alexander Yasnov, driving through the knownÂ Vorkuta ring road, that connects all the villages and coal mines that surrounds the main capital.

Karakat vehicle, the most usefu...e same inhabitants of the city.

Karakat vehicle, the most useful transport during the hard winters of the Arctic. This machines are constructed by the same inhabitants of the city.

Culture Center of Halmer-U, sit...ground by the Russian Military.

Culture Center of Halmer-U, situated 80 Km north of Vorkuta, and abandoned in the 90's. This town was the first abandoned city of the Russian Arctic and nowadays remains as a proving ground by the Russian Military.

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Nevermind in Sovietland

Updated Jan 2013

Topics Abandonment, Activism, Civil Rights, Documentary, Environment, Fear, Fine Art, Globalization, Migration, Photography, photojournalism, Still life

Nevermind in Sovietland

When suddenly a strange three wheeler appears out of nowhere, from the absolute whiteness of the imaginary line of the Arctic Circle, one feels stunned by this unusual means of transport. It is just then when you discover that there aren't other ways to move in such a frozen area. In the city of Vorkuta, an icy wasteland 3000 km up to the north of Moscow, to remain is to accept the ostracism of a place that neither grows nor develops. Built up by gulag prisoners themselves, it still has not found its place in history.

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