Mongolia, Gobi, Omongovi, 2012 Hovorerden is playing with his sister during the sand storm.
[ EPF 2013 SHORTLIST ]
In the last decade the economy of Mongolia has grown at an unprecedented rate, with GDP expanding by more than 10% per year. All this mostly depends on the mining industry: attracted by the large deposits of copper, gold and most of all coal, all of the industry’s global giants have invested and invest in this small country of Central Asia.
Mongolia, Gobi, Omongov, 2013 Coal dust raised by the wind in the Tavan Tolgoi Mine
Mongolia, Gobi, Omongov, 2013 A Chinese miner in the Tavan Tolgoi coal mine.
Mongolia, Gobi, Omongovi, 2012 The “ger” where the nomad family lives
Mongolia, Gobi, Omongovi, 2012 Tuvshinbayar is tying his horses to avoid them to escape during the storm
Mongolia, Gobi, Omongov, 2013 A bus stop few kilomenters from the city of Dalanzdgad
Mongolia, Gobi, Omongov, 2013 A Chinese miner in the Tavan Tolgoi coal mine.
Mongolia, Gobi, Omongovi, 2012 The nomad family is loading the tent and his belongings on the jeep and it is going to leave.
Mongolia, Gobi, White Mountain outpost , 2013 A woman walking in the outpost for the coal delivery at the border with China
Mongolia, Gobi, Omongov, 2012 Tuvshinbayar is sleeping with his son Tuyshintugs after a working morning with his camels
Mongolia, Gobi, Tsogttsestiie sum, 2012 A waitress is working at the Broadway restaurant, the only restaurant for foreigners in the sum
Mongolia, Gobi, White Mountain outpost , 2013 The miners and truck driver canteen of the settlement.
Mongolia, Gobi, Omongovi, 2012 Munkhdul is resting while drinking camel milk tea
Mongolia, Gobi, Omongovi, 2013 Tuvshinbayar is tying Tuvshinbayar and his wife are tying the camel to kill himand sell the meat.
In this accelerated and deregulated development, local populations and traditional ways of life based on ancestral nomadic herding along routes across the steppes are undergoing a crisis. Many families have left their activities and moved in large urban centers in search of work opportunities in this new industrial society, often slipping into economic and social poverty. Others, however, try to resist, dealing every day with pollution, dusts that poison the vegetation, and living conditions which get more and more difficult every day.
This work is a journey in the daily lives of a few families. On one hand, those who chose to continue the tradition of the steppe despite all difficulties, on the other, those who preferred to take their chances in the large cities, unfortunately facing the reality of a space which is deteriorated and invaded by unreachable western cultural models.
The goal is to document the effects of a process of modernization that seems “… inevitable, fatal as death”. (José Saramago, ‘Cain’)
Mongolia, Gobi, White Mountain outpost , 2013 The cook of the miners settlement playing karaoke
Mongolia, Gobi, White Mountain outpost , 2013 A miner playing pool
Mongolia, Gobi, Dalanzadgad, 2013 A famous Mongolian singer during the party organized by the Mobicom mobile company.
Mongolia, Gobi, Dalanzadgad, 2013 An old couple dancing during the Democratic party open event.
Mongolia, Gobi, Tsogttsestiie sum, 2012 In the Tsogttsestiie sum there is one only paved street, the other streets are unpaved and the dust is always around
Mongolia, Gobi, Tsogttsestiie sum, 2012 Some young boys are playing in the only public place in the village: the basket field of the public school.
Mongolia, Gobi, Tsogttsestiie sum, 2012 Saikhana is wrestling with one of his friends
Mongolia, Gobi, Omongovi, 2012 Tuvshinbayar with his children during a sand storm
Mongolia, Gobi, Dalanzadgad 2013 A young girl playing table tennis in the city playground.
Mongolia, Gobi, Dalanzadgad, 2013 A police detective of the city having his meal in the Police department canteen
Mongolia, Gobi, Omongovi, 2013 Zaya outside the tent in a sunny day, in winter the temperature can reach -25 degrees
Bio
Michele Palazzi was born in Rome in 1984. After gaining a three years master in Photography at the Scuola Romana di Fotografia, he started working as a documentary photographer. In 2009 he received the Enzo Baldoni prize with project 3,32 AM on the earthquake in Abruzzo. Since 2010 he’s been working on the project Migrant Workers Journey, recipient of the Project Launch Award 2011 at Center Santa Fe, exhibited in New Mexico Museum of Art and screened at the Visa Pour l’Image 2012. In 2013 he received the Environmental Photographer of the Year, First Prize. Between 2012 and 2013 he started working on a long term project about the modernization impact in Asian developing countries. He lives in Rome.
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Michele Palazzi
Brilliant work
……and the EPF drags its feet on and on until the new EPF foot arrives
a bit predictable as a essay
IMANTS
this is your constant rant….we get it…but for heavens sake, these essays have not been seen by you or anyone…are they to somehow be discounted because they are EPF? what the hell? we bust it to raise the money to even have an EPF….should we do nothing? that make you happier?
twice is not constant, boy do you get testy when criticised…..
Imants, perhaps there were more entries for the EPF this time around? And even if not, does it really matter when we’re shown a photographer’s work we’ve not seen before? Some of the best images I’ve seen recently in the press (e.g. some of those taken in Kiev) could be labeled ‘predictable’, but that doesn’t make them any less a great image. As for this essay, I think there are some lovely images within it.
I enjoy the photographs of the people indoors they give this a great sense of intimacy and playfulness against the harsh environment.
Photos #12 #16 #19 and #21
Tony where did I state that they were lesser images. My only gripe here is that the essays come from one source which is to win an award
Imants, point taken, but perhaps DAH and the ‘burn team’ feel that these EPF Shortlist essays are the best they have available to show at present. Only they can say. Either way enjoy the essays (or not) for what they are irrespective of being EPF entries or not.
I like it. A lot. It reminds of the Arctic, except for the camels. And the camel shots are wonderful.
Something tells me that if this had come in as a submission, separate from EPF, it would still have wound up here in Burn.
Hello again! It’s been a while since I’ve visited.
Love the essay. And as always here, remarkable and breathtaking work.