Norilsk Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

color version of an B&W picture I posted a while back. Norilsk is a very special city, one of the 10 most polluted city in the world (Science magazine a couple of months old). Sulfur smoke in the backgrounds usually floats above the city and the sulfur taste is in your mouth.
All the trees are dead and the building are disolving away because of acid rains. One of the mine geologist there told us that around now (November), about 1 million rain dears cross the city. Would like to be there to record this unreal scene on film.
You need a special permit to get there, even if you are russian...
The lens was a plastic sigma 18-200 that I broke in this city when it dropped from my bed onto the carpet in the hotel...

jmcl, jonathan_hart, doubay has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

jmcl (13721) 2007-11-02 12:15

Hi Stephane,

The depth is great .. along with the contrast the depth adds an intense mood to this industrial scene .. I love the way the darkness to brightness works across this .. very effective ..

take care,

John

jonathan_hart (22564) 2007-11-03 2:09

bonjour Stéphane
inquiétante photo, tout comme la note, ça va bien ensemble, c'est apocalyptique !
la perspective est d'une efficacité redoutable, très belle photo d'un désastre qui suit son cours...
pas de chance pour l'objectif
amicalement
jo

Signal-Womb (11614) 2007-11-04 3:47

Great capture Stephane, love the dark mood to this one with effective DOF revealing details near and far. I would maybe lift the shadows in top corners just a little. Well done..

doubay (5023) 2007-11-08 8:05

Hi Stephane!
What for an industrial landscape! Weird, fascinating and, I guess, heavily polluted. I like the perspective here, with the wide optical field and this rusty pipe leading the eye to the horizon. I wonder how you got there.
Regards
Andreas

enanonegro (641) 2007-12-01 8:54

Very good picture, cinematographicly post apocalyptic

cozy (966) 2008-01-09 1:10

Hi Stephane,
Fantastic POV, the great big cylinder leading the eye all the way to that great mass of pollution! The fact that the sky is so dark adds to feeling of how polluted this area actually is! You put your point across here very well!
Regards,
Costa.