Exhibitions 2025

The Sacrifice Zone

Kazakhstan is by far the largest country in Central Asia and, until 1991, was an important republic within the Soviet Union. In utmost secrecy, far from the world’s view, several parts of its steppes were turned into a vast open-air laboratory during the Cold War. With no regard for the local population, this place became, for decades, the fateful setting for some of the most devastating nuclear tests the Earth’s surface has ever seen. This episode from the past has become painfully relevant again, given the recent show of force by Russia's current rulers.

Armed with a tripod, medium-format camera, and a necessary Geiger counter, Eddo Hartmann visited the affected area, now infamously known as "The Polygon," over several seasons. Over the years, he documented both the tormented landscape and the people who live there. He portrayed the direct witnesses of history and the current generation, who have found various ways to cope with this past. Life on the vast steppe has traditionally been extremely challenging. The region has an extreme climate, with scorching hot summers and bitterly cold winters. Severe weather conditions, like dust and snowstorms, test the resilience of both people and animals.

In the last 20 years, modernization and urbanization have brought changes to the Kazakh steppe. Many Kazakhs have settled in cities and villages, adopting a more sedentary lifestyle. Nevertheless, some communities hold onto their traditional customs, maintaining their deep-rooted connection to the steppes and the nomadic heritage that defines them.

A Tormented Landscape

Kazakh people are known for their hospitality, warmth, and strong community spirit. The economic growth of their country, driven primarily by rich reserves of minerals and energy sources, has led to urbanisation and modernisation. Kazakhstan is relatively thinly populated; about 18 million people live in a country of 2.7 million square kilometres – about seven times the size of Germany.

Kazakhstan was dominated by Russia for centuries, and was a Soviet republic until it gained independence in 1991. The influence of nomadic animal husbandry remains visible in the country’s culture and traditions, and despite urbanisation Kazakhstan still has strong links to its nomadic legacy. The large majority of the population continues to live in small agrarian communities dotted across the steppes. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the transition to a market economy brought many problems. Hyperinflation, economic recession and unemployment have proved extremely intractable issues.

Eddo Hartmann directs his attention and his camera to the people who live in the vast steppes of the provinces of Pavlodar and Karaganda in eastern Kazakhstan, amongst the physical remains of the Soviet past – a landscape of disused industrial complexes and ghost cities. Almost none of those he portrays look directly at the camera. We follow their gaze and are drawn into the world they inhabit. The human figure is always in relation to the background – a field, a dilapidated house or factory, a crumbling road – that functions as an integral part of the story. Desolation is the leitmotif in Hartmann’s narrative, strengthened in every image by the exploration of countless details: every stony surface, every plant, and every piece of asphalt. Human figures become part of this tormented landscape.

Into The Half Life

In Eddo Hartmann’s photographs the experience of life and survival on the implacable Kazakhstan steppes is emphasized by their all but endless emptiness. One of the high points of the exhibition is the work he was able to make in the heart of the nuclear test area, a place notorious for its high concentrations of radioactive radiation and extreme difficulty to reach. Besides a Geiger counter, protective clothing is literally of vital importance: another challenge for the practical aspects of photography.

In the most contaminated areas Hartmann worked with an infrared camera and literally saw the world in another light. In this part of the spectrum, the green steppe takes on an intense red colour. The result strongly resembles a still from a science-fiction film. This effect is further strengthened by surrealistic images in which water-filled craters and assorted concrete constructions stand out like graphic elements that speak eloquently of the ecological destruction that was wreaked on the landscape.

The palette of the infrared photography in this project is derived from the famous Aerochrome film that was developed by Kodak in the 1940s, used principally for military and scientific ends. It turned out to be extremely effective at detecting camouflage in the field; camouflage contains no chlorophyll, and therefore stands out clearly against foliage in the photo. The infrared part of the spectrum is still widely employed in science, including astronomy and research into crop health.

Despite its toxic history, this former test area is home to several small villages whose occupants continue to live as usual, apparently dismissive of the dangers. Shepherds let their livestock graze in the radioactive area, and fishermen take their catch from the craters. The radioactive materials the animals consume then move through the food chain.