Eddo Hartmann – The Sacrifice Zone

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan has long been out of the limelight, but this has recently changed with the war in Ukraine and the redevelopment of the famed Silk Road between China and western Russia, which have raised tensions in the area.

Nuclear

Armed with his camera and Geiger counter, Hartmann enters The Polygon, a nuclear test site with an intense history. The Kazakh steppe, with its extreme climate and challenging living conditions, comes alive through Hartmann's lens. Despite modernisation and urbanisation, some communities remain true to their nomadic heritage, despite ecological destruction during Soviet rule.

Emptiness

The experience of the unrelenting steppe is highlighted in each image by its seemingly endless emptiness. Among the highlights of the exhibition are infrared images of the nuclear epicentre, where the green steppe turns into an intense red landscape, making it clear that there is more going on than the naked eye can perceive.

Explore The Sacrifice Zone and see how photography as testimony reveals the invisible traces of the past. Eddo Hartmann's internationally awarded work comes to life in this unique exhibition at Huis Marseille.