Theory & Practice

Photographing Social and Geographical Isolation Between Siberia and the Ruhr

Nanna Heitmann Coal Mining. Mike Pallenberg is a supervisor. His main task is to attach a 550-pound drill - along with 6 to 8 other miners - so that it can worm up to 80 meters into the rock and drill holes. Ever (...)
Nanna Heitmann Coal Mine. Looking back to the times when you couldn't hang your white clothes outside or a layer of coal dust would cover the fresh snow within minutes. Bottrop. Germany. 2017. © Nanna Heitmann | Magnum Photos
Nanna Heitmann Prosper Haniel Coal Mine. In the ”white coop” the miners deposit their street clothes and in the “black coop” they deposit their workwear into cages which are hung under the roof. Bottrop. Germany. (...)
Nanna Heitmann Prosper Haniel Coal Mine. Two miners smoke their cigarettes after work. Thousands have left the tight-knit community, tempered by toil, darkness, sweat and by obstacles. The youth retrain, while th (...)
Nanna Heitmann Coal Mining. Former miner Alfons fights with the consequences of coal mining. The inhaled coal-dust led to the malignant form of the silicosis and caused lung cancer. His illness was recognized as (...)
Nanna Heitmann Coal Mining. The guard of honour Prosper-Haniel at a traditional gathering of former miners. Over 800 miners attended. Hamm. Germany. 2017. © Nanna Heitmann | Magnum Photos
Nanna Heitmann A small ferry boat is the only connection to the village of Old Believers. The Old Believers turned against the reforms of the Patriarch Nikon, who reformed from 1652 texts and rites of Russian Ort (...)
Nanna Heitmann Prosper Haniel Coal Mine. Saint Barbara, patron saint of miners, is said to protect workers from the dangers connected with their labour. Bottrop. Germany. 2017. © Nanna Heitmann | Magnum Photos
Nanna Heitmann Prosper Haniel Coal Mine. Coal is extracted 24 hours a day, splitting the work in 4 shifts. 80 men getting out of a narrow, dark elevator. In one and a half minutes the elevator rushes thousand met (...)
Nanna Heitmann Prosper Haniel Coal Mine. Miners gather together and smoke their last cigarette before their night shift begins. Underground any fire and electronics are prohibited. Underground workers sniff tobac (...)
Nanna Heitmann It's summer holidays. Valentin injured his head when he made a dive while bathing. In summer horseflies are a nuisance, they are everywhere. Yenisei River. Minussinsk. Russian. 2018. © Nanna Heitmann | Magnum Photos
Nanna Heitmann RUSSIA. Yenisei River. Kyzyl. 2018. Yuri built his little hut on a dump so he can feed his 15 dogs with what he finds in the dump. Everything he owns he found on the rubbish dump. Inside it is dark (...)
Nanna Heitmann The girl Vaselisa. Her parents are both deaf and dumb and the only unbelievers in a village that lives strictly by centuries-old rituals. Her only friend lives in the village of Sissim. The summer (...)
Nanna Heitmann RUSSIA. Yenisei River. Kyzyl. 2018. While waiting for the bus, Dolgar Dmitrievna’s daughter is sleeping on her lap in the summer heat. In the summer temperatures in the Republic of Tuva climb to 50 (...)
Nanna Heitmann Yuri in front of his self-built home. "I am a simple worker. Nothing keeps me in the city. All my friends are in the cemetery. Drugs or alcohol. Here the air is clear and not dirty from all the coa (...)
Nanna Heitmann Evgenii with his rat Barclay in his apartment. Next year, he will move to the US for five months to earn enough money to own a car. After watching the movie Ratatouille, he immediately bought a rat (...)
Nanna Heitmann Khuresh is a type of wrestling sport and the national sport of the Tuvan Republic, a partially recognized state in southern Siberia. No national festivity is celebrated without a khuresh match. The (...)
Nanna Heitmann Biologist Nikolai Putinzov has the largest collection of insects and amphibians in the Tuva area. The biodiversity and water quality are under serious threat from Chinese companies mining gold in l (...)
Nanna Heitmann A dry and warm winter caused many fires this summer in Siberia. At the same time, wildfires are commonplace in the densely wooded area. Here the forest is burning not far from the city of Minusinsk (...)
Nanna Heitmann A traditional horse race of the Tuvinese National Festival Naadym in the steppe, at 43 degrees. The horses and their riders cover a distance of 30 km. Seven horses died in the heat. Yenisei River. (...)