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Iron Heart

Gregor Kallina

2013 - Ongoing

Kiruna, Norrbotten, Sweden

North of the Arctic Circle, the swedish city of Kiruna owes its existence to a mining company and finds itself existentially threatened by these very same excavations. Each portion of ore taken out of the mine is followed by waste rock falling from above, making the ground to sink gradually, causing deformations at ground level. In 2004 the municipality of Kiruna started a project to move the city centre and its cultural heritage buildings some 3 kilometres away to some different sites.

This is a visual approach to the often paradox relationship between the mine and the city. The city does only exist because of the mine and at the same time people are forced to start a new existence somewhere else due to the mining operations. At the moment there is a mix of nostalgia and doubt prevailing: People have to take their memories that were tied to places with them and trust the vision of a place that does not exist yet. A visual story that plays with the complex relationship between dependence, necessity, and nostalgia.

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  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 26.09.2017 / Hjalmar Lundbohmsgarden, the house of city founder and first director of the mining company LKAB, Hjalmar Lundbohm. The house is dismantled and moved in three parts. This is the third part waiting to be moved to its new location at the foot of Luossavaara mountain. The missing painting shows where once part one was. © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 06.03.2017 / Street view at Luossavaara mountain in Kiruna outside the deformation zone. © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 27.09.2017 / The house of the first director of the mining company LKAB, Hjalmar Lundbohm, is moved to its new location at the foot of Luossavaara mountain. Kirunavaara mountain and the mine in the background. © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 10.11.2018 / View on Kiruna Kyrka and other town houses. © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 12.03.2017 / Hans-Olof Utsi, photographer in Kiruna © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 10.11.2018 / From my award-winning fotostory "Iron Heart". Hans-Olof Utsi's daughter Rut standing in the woods around Kiruna near Luossavaara mountain. © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 12.11.2018 / From my award-winning fotostory "Iron Heart". The new city hall, officially opened on 22nd of November 2018. © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 13.11.2018 / From my award-winning fotostory "Iron Heart". Site of "Kiruna Sleddog Tours" company, at the foot of Luossavaara mountain. Playground for employees and dogs. © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 13.11.2018 / From my award-winning fotostory "Iron Heart". Typical "bläckhorn houses" in Kiruna, as the buildings resemble bläckhorns, the swedish word for ink pots. The mine is in the background. © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 27.07.2013 / Apartment building in Kiruna with Kirunavaara mountain and the mine in the background. The houses here will be affected by the deformation zone. © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 07.03.2017 / Scene at the former mine in Tuollavaraa in Kiruna, near the new city centre construction site. © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 08.03.2017 / Devices like this are positioned all around the city of Kiruna to measure the deformations of the ground that are inflicted during mining operations. What is taken out from under the earth will later fall down from above. This leaves the ground with scars, some of them devastating © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 08.03.2017 / Down the iron ore mine in Kiruna, at the visitors` centre of LKAB, the mining company. © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 09.03.2017 / The old mine of Tuolluvaara in Kiruna, which is not active any more. It is outside the deformation zone. © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 13.03.2017 / Arbetarbostaden B5 in the area of Ullspiran, a house with three different entrances to flats for workers of LKAB, the mining company. It was built in 1899 and is the oldest building in the area. It is part of the cultural heritage to be moved to its new location at the foot of Luossavaara mountain in 2017. © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 13.03.2017 / Inside the Tusen Toner music club. It is within the deformation zone and will be torn down. © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 01.07.2017 / Two girls at the Backyard Bärs festival in Kiruna © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 05.07.2017 / City scene in Kiruna. The houses here will be affected by the deformation zone. © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 03.07.2017 / Students´hall, recently built in the area of the new city centre © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 08.07.2017 / The so called Ingenjörsvillan, formerly a house for the mining engineers in Kiruna. It is prepared for being moved to its new location, it is part of the cultural heritage. © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 05.07.2017 / Anders Hallergren sitting on his Harley Davidson motorbike © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 10.07.2017 / Dismantling a house in the area of Ullspiran in Kiruna. Kirunavaara mountain with the mine in the background. © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 08.03.2017 / Down the iron ore mine in Kiruna, at the visitors` centre of LKAB, the mining company. © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 01.07.2017 / Fans of Sapmi singer Sofia Jannok cheering at the Kirunafestival concert © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 03.07.2017 / Cleaned area where some of the so called Bläckhorn houses ("bläckhorn" means inkpot, which refers to the design of the house) were recently moved to their new location near Luossavaara mountain © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 07.07.2017 / House near the railway station, originally built for the former railway staff. The houses here will be affected by the deformation zone.
    © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 30.06.2017 / Fan of Sofia Jannok at the Kirunafestival concert © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 30.06.2017 / Bored girls at the Kirunafestival © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 27.07.2013 / Apartment building in Kiruna. Parking lots in Kiruna have devices to load the battery in winter to avoid breakdown during freezing temperatures. The houses here will be affected by the deformation zone.
    © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

  • SWEDEN / Norrbottens laen / Kiruna / 13.11.2018 / What remains of the building complex in the area of Ullspiran is now a park with outlines of the former buildings. © Gregor Kallina / Anzenberger

Iron Heart

Gregor Kallina

2013 - Ongoing

Kiruna, Norrbotten, Sweden

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