There is gas under the tundra

Dates

2016 - Ongoing
Author

charles xelot
Topics Contemporary Issues, Documentary, Travel

Yamal peninsula holds an enormous gas field. On this small territory, modern factories cohabit with traditional local life.

The Yamal peninsula, in the Russian Arctic, holds one of the largest gas field in the world. Actually the most ambitious industrial project of the far North is under construction at the edge of the peninsula. This factory will extract gas from the tundra. The gas will be send worldwide and all year round by boat through the frozen sea. However the Yamal peninsula is also the settlement of one of the last nomadic population in the world: the Nenets. In this harsh environment the human ecosystem is simple : Large industries, small villages and reindeer shepherds. Changes in the region are a metaphor for the global situation. This body of work examines the alterations caused by the energy needs of mankind.

Stern of a nuclear powered ice-breaker in the Kara sea.

Nenets family in the tundra.

Gas factory under construction in Sabetta.

© charles xelot - Image from the There is gas under the tundra photography project

Ice broken by the propeller of an ice-breaker.

Flare in the tundra. After drilling a well the gas is burn until pressure stabilized.

Module brought by boat from China for the construction of a new factory.

Storage.

Once a year the shepherds gather for the reindeer day. There are organizing different contest but the main is the reindeer race. This event took place in Noviy port, it was the first organized in 20 year, gazprom was the sponsor, that explain the presence of gazprom workers (in blue jacket down left) and of TV journalist (big car in the right with parabole).

Gas well ready for exploitation. On the background, worker's housing.

Ice cave dug in the permafrost by Gulag prisoner in the 50's. Now used as a storage for fish. Species are slowly changing (migrating north earlier) and there are less fishes due to multiple factors, industry, global warming and poaching. The temperature in the cave is -10C all year round. Village of Gyda.

A diver will spend 3-4 hours working under ice on the berth of an industrial site.

Workers in an ice cave in front of bag full of fishes.

There is gas under the tundra

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