#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The next book by the Norilsk photographer Yevgeny Shchemilin is being prepared for publication. This time his work, named The Pit, which won the Untitled Dummy Award 2020 competition for book layouts, is dedicated to the Mayak mine.
The project has combined the photographs taken by the author at the Mayak mine from 2010 to 2014.
The book is called documentary evidence of the original ‘subculture’ at manufacturing site, disappearing under the pressure of new corporate rules.
Since the project is being created autonomously, without anyone’s help, the author hopes for the support of the Norilsk people, for which a fundraiser has been launched on the largest crowdfunding platform in Russia. There you can also pre-order a 72-page photobook, which they want to publish in a circulation of at least one hundred copies.
“My goal is to invite the viewer not only to experience the feelings that I myself experienced while working underground, but also to give instructions for action, or at least to indicate the entrance and exit from the Pit with a clear signal sign”, Yevgeny Schemilin shared.
“In the layout of the book, very different things coexist well: mysticism and routine, fear and humor, hard work and beauty of the moment, personal impressions and a glossary of miner’s slang. And all this ultimately came together in a clear and original form”, said Katerina Zueva, co-founder of the Untitled Dummy Award.
As a reminder, in 2019 Yevgeny Shchemilin’s previous book titled I am Norilsk was published. In it, the author collected his visual associations about his hometown.
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Text: Mikhail Tuaev, Photo: Evgeny Schemilin
