Life in Norilsk
August 29, 2018 11:19 AM   Subscribe

Welcome to one of the most isolated cities on Earth. A photo essay by Elena Chernyshova (2015)
posted by growabrain (17 comments total) 29 users marked this as a favorite
 
perfect summer viewing ... and reading
posted by philip-random at 11:41 AM on August 29, 2018


These are amazing photos. The isolation seems to pale as a problem compared to the environmental pollution.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:55 AM on August 29, 2018 [2 favorites]


The pictures of clubs and bands are like youth thriving in Hell.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:04 PM on August 29, 2018 [6 favorites]


Man those photos are sure cherry-picked to give a specific impression of life in a frozen hell. I like the photo on Wikipedia as contrast. Some other treatments: NYTimes' grim take, Siberian Times (happy!), and this collection of oblique aerial shots.

I've been to Tromsø, the "Paris of the North" as its optimistically called. It's a bit further north and at 75,000 people, not small. It's anything but isolated though. Also a good deal warmer thanks to prevailing weather. And without the hideous gulag history. Nice enough town; not sure I'd make a special trip, but you'll definitely stop in if you're in the area.
posted by Nelson at 12:37 PM on August 29, 2018 [4 favorites]


Man those photos are sure cherry-picked to give a specific impression of life in a frozen hell.

You don't have to pick a lot of cherries when the average daily high temperature is below freezing eight months of the year, there are snow storms 110 to 130 days a year, the sun goes down at the end of November and doesn't come up again until half way through January, and the average life expectancy is ten years shorter than the Russian average. The cherries are all frozen.
posted by pracowity at 1:10 PM on August 29, 2018 [9 favorites]


Does anyone know what's happening in that photo labeled 'a scene from a smelting factory'? Is that tube some kind of breathing device, or is he speaking into a walkie-talkie hookup? I'm not gonna lie, it straight up looks like he's sucking on a the hose of a vacuum cleaner, but presumably that is not in fact one of the ways the inhabitants of Norilsk get their kicks at work.
posted by DSime at 1:44 PM on August 29, 2018


I'm guessing it's so hot and smokey and full of poisonous fumes there that you need breathing equipment to avoid doing awful things to your lungs. Maybe he's sucking on it temporarily rather than wearing it with a mask because he's only standing there long enough to escort the photographer and get the shot, and because he wants to get his face in the papers.

It's that or the Soviet-era vaping kit his grandfather left to him.
posted by pracowity at 2:01 PM on August 29, 2018 [5 favorites]


How does a big mining operation work without road or rail links? Flying people in and out is one thing, but can they really be flying in heavy equipment, building materials, and the like and then flying out the metal (maybe high value but not such large quantities, though)? Do they do most of the transport when the water route is free, and mainly stack things up the rest of the year?
posted by Segundus at 2:02 PM on August 29, 2018 [3 favorites]


"Flying people in and out is one thing, but can they really be flying in heavy equipment, building materials, and the like and then flying out the metal (maybe high value but not such large quantities, though)?"

I was just watching a NOVA episode that talked about palladium mining the other day, and basically it was a LOT of ore for a very small amount of processed metal, so it probably doesn't take up that much space to store. (Nickle more I guess.) I would imagine they, yeah, ship in big equipment by sea, and ship out metal in the summer. (And indeed, Wikipedia says this is the case.) Palladium might be economical to ship by air in small quantities if you had planes coming and going anyway. But probably not economical to charter a plane for it.

My dad works for a company that makes rebar, and while they have the excellent US transport system for year-round deliveries, they still get a lot more raw metal in the summer because shipping by barge is SO MUCH CHEAPER than shipping overland (air is right out). It's more economical to build warehouses and store it so you can ship it on the cheap in the summer. They do buy metal in the winter and ship it in (and some of their factories and suppliers are barge-accessible year-round, but others aren't), but the profit margin is slimmer than if they ship it on barges in the summer and store it.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 2:24 PM on August 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


Wow. As an extractive industries geek I knew about the town as a megamine but nothing of aspects of life for those who live there. These pictures are so vivid. The shot of the teens on the pipe with the water spouts is a whole narrative all of it’s own. Thanks for posting.
posted by freya_lamb at 4:46 PM on August 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


I like this picture on google maps
posted by kitten magic at 5:09 PM on August 29, 2018 [3 favorites]


He looks so chipper for someone who is going to spend the next few months digging out his car.
posted by kitten magic at 5:10 PM on August 29, 2018 [5 favorites]


going to spend the next few months digging out his car.

Just in time for summer to come and go.
posted by pracowity at 11:19 PM on August 29, 2018 [2 favorites]


Despite all the political intrigue and outrage surrounding Russian influences, I find myself deeply respecting their ability to survive, and "look so chipper" - kitten magic, in these extreme living conditions.
posted by filtergik at 4:34 AM on August 30, 2018


I really want to go to one of their monthly club nights.
posted by fatfrank at 4:56 AM on August 30, 2018


Despite all the political intrigue and outrage surrounding Russian influences

As usual, the main problem isn't the people, it's their leaders.
posted by tobascodagama at 5:38 AM on August 30, 2018


Me too filtergik. They look like really good people, a great community.

Never had anything against the Russian people myself (not from the US, not paying attention to political intrigue and outrage, my country does all that for itself). It's sad if it's caused people to not respect them.
posted by kitten magic at 1:35 PM on August 30, 2018


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