Daro Sulakauri captured the miners (and their families) that reside in Caucasus. The images are dark, and desolate with pops of color. They show a lifestyle that we are not exposed to here, in the United States. The opening picture seems that of a post-apocalyptic movie, not of a 2017 real world town. The images are raw, and organic which is mostly impart to their candid, unposed nature. The photo essay starts with a look into the miners starting their day of grueling labor. The darkness that surrounds them as they take a tiny mine cart down into the mines. Above them are roots, and metal rafters, as if they are being engulfed by their work. The mine for "black gold", which is another world for the mineral Manganese. This is their livelihood and what keeps their families fed, even if it is not enough. The faces of the workers are weathered, and tough. Their eyes are piercing and focused. We are then taken into the living situations of this mining town. Tenement looking homes and apartment buildings are tightly packed together; it plucks the heart strings, and it makes you appreciate the luxuries, and beauties that surround us here. Their homes are damaged, torn apart, by shockwaves from underground detonation. Can you imagine your room being torn apart, due to the work that kept you in that room? Families in America spread themselves out amongst their family rooms, dens, and various other rooms. Whereas, the family shown in Caucasus are huddled together, morosely, around a stove in their main room. Laundry hangs drying from the ceiling. Shoes are drying, it seems, beneath the stove. But then, in the next image, the lighting changes... We are in a bright beautiful bountiful landscape. We are viewing children playing on a platform, and there is a levity to the image. We see the cable cars illuminated, with foliage around them. Even the dim image of people packed in a rail car has light pooling from the background window. Sulakauri then pulls at our heartstrings again, showing the city covered in snow, and the post-apocalyptic feel reemerges. This last image brings the whole photo essay full circle.
This was the only photo essay that truly pulled me in, and by images alone, compelled me to read the story. As I read through the story, read the captions, and viewed the images it made me think about the levels of poverty in the U.S, and how different life must be in the Soviet Union. The face of the one little girl breaking the fourth wall in the family portrait is sobering. There is such anger and strength in her eyes. Almost as if she does not want this stranger seeing the underbelly of their daily lives.
Question and Answer Section
- How did the photographer approach this story visually?
The photographer brought you slowly in to the workers lives, and then built up to the city, and families. The images start dark and gritty and have levity in the middle, and then draw back to the raw grit of the city at the end. - What is successful about this photo essay?
I find the entire photo essay compelling. The images were simple, and deep at the same time. - Why did you choose this out of all of the others?
As I said above, there was no other photo essay that drew me in, by images alone. I almost picked a photo essay about HIV/AIDS drug users, and street workers in Tijuana. But, those were... almost lifeless in comparison to these. - What elements of photography enhance your understanding or feeling for the story?
The colors were always muted, but the edges sharp, this enhanced the mood that was trying to be portrayed. His proximity to the subjects is intimate, even though they seem part of their dilapidated surroundings, there is still a glitter in their eyes. - Make comments about the intro/outro shots.
I felt that the intro and outro shots brought the whole photo essay into full circle. It starts as it ends... dark, unsure, and organic. We start with an old woman riding the rail car up from the city. We end the photo essay with a wide landscape shot of the rail car (I assume to be) descending back into the dark city. - Think about the order in which these images are presented to you, is this order effective? Why or why not? What could be changed? Would it change the meaning or story?
I think the order was very effective in conveying the story of the desolate mining town. As said above the images start with the railcars and workers, and then we go into their family lives, to the areas of the city, and ends with the railcar. There was one image of a young girl in the railcar, and I feel that her image could be removed and that it would not hinder the meaning of the story.
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