OR EDU

Hi Patrick and Sarah,

I am posting the diptychs of my edit and other selects with captions that might be paired up differently.
I unfortunately had to cancel the last trip to Astana for this workshop, which will end pretty soon.. The good news is that I did e-mailing things to a few editors, and one magazine is publishing the series. But, they want the pictures in a short turnaround time, and this was one of the main reasons I had to cancel the trip since I needed to re-scan, re-edit etc... So, I hope you understand this.
In some sense, this project is turning out to be successful, at least financially. And, I really appreciate to the masters and everyone else.
I choose those images for diptychs by showing the visual and conceptual contrast/similarity between the inside and outside. And, I hope the pairs of pictures can convey that idea to the viewers.
I'm hoping to continue the project since the winter is not over, and I think it's worth trying (would you agree?). I'd appreciate if you could also give me feedbacks on what else you'd like to see in the series to make a better project. I think I've got enough pictures to publish, but to make it to another level, I should be aware of which pictures I should take. Otherwise, I feel like making the same pictures again.

Here is the captions each picture:

1.
Left: An old couple walk near Astana's symbol Bayterek tower on Dec. 29, 2010. The 97-meter tall tower was built in 1997, and the name Bayterek means a poplar tree, a symbol of the tree of life in Kazakh myth. On top of Bayterek lies an egg of a mythical bird Samruk, and the egg symbolizes the sun.

Right: Kazakh woman in Kazakh's ethnic costume stands at the reception for a concert for Kazakh music held in the Presidential Center of Culture in Astana on Dec. 9 2010. On her head, she wears Saukele, a traditional Kazakh headdress for woman.

2.
Left: Katya, 8, plays on the Ishim river, which is frozen during the winter in Astana, Kazakhtan on Dec. 26, 2010. The Ishim river separates Astana into the newly developed left bank and the old right bank.

Right:
Muhit, a lifesaver, kills his time doing a handstand on the artificial beach at Khan Shatyr, a giant transparent tent with shopping and entertainment venues, on Dec. 11 2010. Khan Shatyr and the artificial beach opened in summer 2010.

3.
Left:
A tree decorated with small light bulbs glow on the street by a new apartment on the left bank of Astana.

Right:
A palm tree was photographed in the main building of L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University.

4.
Left:
The Ishim river gets frozen during the winter. The pyramid on the right is Pyramid of Peace and Accord, also translated as Palace of Peace and Reconciliation. The landscape was photographed on August 15, 2010.

Right:
A large figure of a camel photographed at Khan Shatyr, a giant transparent tent with shopping and entertainment venues, on Dec. 11 2010. Khan Shatyr and the artificial beach opened in summer 2010.

5.
Left:
Lights glow at the small park in the left bank of Astana. Lights are glowing in different parks around the left bank of Astana, showing off the country's abundant resources.

Right:
Participants of a new year party dance in Astana's five-star Rixos President Hotel Astana.

6.
Left: Boy poses for a picture on the bridge on the Ishim river.

Right:
Kamila, 8, poses for a picture at the artificial beach in Khan Shatyr, a giant transparent tent with shopping and entertainment venues.

7.
Left:
View of the downtown Astana located on the left bank of the city. On the right is the tower Bayterek, Astana's symbol. The left bank was developed rapidly with the a number of "futuristic' looking buildingsafter Kazakhstan moved its capital from Almaty to Astana in 1997.

Right:
Visitors pass by the smaller version of the Statue of Liberty at the entertainment center Duman in Astana on Dec. 31, 2010

8.
Left:
Malahay is a hat used in the cold area in central Asia.

Right:
Beach sandal lie on the artificial beach in Khan Shatyr, an entertainment center completed in Summer 2010. The picture was taken on Dec. 11, 2010.

9.
Left:
Residential buildings stand by the Ishim river frozen during the winter on Dec. 26, 2010. The small tent on the right bottom is a fisherman, fishing on the river. The left bank of Astana has been developed rapidly with the a number of "futuristic' looking buildingsafter Kazakhstan moved its capital from Almaty to Astana in 1997.

Right:
Woman stands in front of a large octopus figure in the aquarium at Duman, an entertainment center, in Astana, Kazakhstan, which is considered as a landlocked country, on Dec. 31, 2010.

10.
Left:
A Christmas tree glows by the Presidential Palace in the center of Astana.

Right:
A painting of palm trees hang on the room in a five-star hotel Peking Palace - Soluxe Hotel Astana, which is owned by a Chinese oil firm, in the downtown Astana.

11.
Left:
Kazakh man digs up snow to get his car into the way in the downtown Astana.

Right:
Participant of a New Year's party celebrate for the coming year in Astana's five-star hotel Rixos President Hotel Astana on Dec. 31. 2010. The entrance ticket for the party costed about $500 per person.

12. Park in the left bank of Astana is covered by snow on Dec. 29, 2010.

13. Children play with snow by a new luxurious residential complex "HighVill" in the left bank of Astana.

14.
Ice statues are se up by the Ishim River near in Astana.

15.
The beach by Ishim River is covered by the snow during the winter, by the Ishim river in Astana.

16.
A large billboard show Kazakh boys on the horses on the street in Astana. The Kazakh are originally nomads living in the steppe in Central Asia.

17.
The foot of a boy playing outside by the Ishim River in Astana.

18.
A broken umbrella was photographed on the street of the downtown Astana.

19.
Man with Santa Claus's costume walks toward the pyramid called Palace of Peace and Reconciliation to warm up. He stands by the pyramid all day to get photographed with the visitors to the pyramid.

20.
A man with Santa Claus's costume warms up inside the pyramid called Palace of Peace and Reconciliation. He stands outside the pyramid all day to get photographed with the visitors to the pyramid.

21.
A man with Santa Claus's costume was photographed by the pyramid called Palace of Peace and Reconciliation. He stands outside the pyramid all day to get photographed with the visitors to the pyramid.

22.
The parking lot by the buildings, where different ministries' head offices are located.

23.
A 15 year old boy was photographed downtown on the left bank of Astana.

24.
Children play by the Ishim River in Astana.

25.
Poster for 2011 Asian Winter Games is displayed on the street in Astana.

26.
Man walks on the street in the downtown Astana.

27.
The bare road by the new luxurious residential complex Highvill on the left bank of Astana.

28.
City workers clean the street in the downtown Astana. The area is kept clean to showcase the city to the visitors.

29.
Snow blows the street by the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the downtown Astana.

30.
A ministry building was photographed in the downtown Astana.

31.
The top floor of Khan Shatyr is designed like a tropical resort. Khan Shatyr is a giant transparent tent with shopping and entertainment venues.

32.
Muhit, a lifesaver, poses for a picture at the artificial beach at Khan Shatyr, a giant transparent tent with shopping and entertainment venues, on Dec. 11 2010. Khan Shatyr and the artificial beach opened in summer 2010.

33.
Visitors to Khan Shatyr enjoy their weekend at the artificial beach.

34.
Visitors to Khan Shatyr enjoy their weekend at the artificial beach.

35.
Visitors to Khan Shatyr enjoy their weekend at the artificial beach.

36.
A shopping center in the downtown Astana is decorated with the winter theme.

37.
Visitors to an entertainment center Duman watch the 5D cinema.

38.
A person with a shark is drawn on a board for pictures by the aquarium in the entertainment center Duman. Kazakhstan is considered as a landlocked country.

39.
Fish are displayed in a seafood restaurant in Khan Shatyr. Kazakhstan is considered as a landlocked country.

40.
Visitors pass by a fish in the aquarium at Duman, an entertainment center, in Astana on Dec. 31, 2010.

41.
A boy watches fish in the aquarium at Duman, an entertainment center, in Astana on Dec. 31, 2010.

42.
A worker at a five-star hotel Peking Palace - Soluxe Hotel Astana, which is owned by a Chinese oil firm, in the downtown Astana.

43.
Cars pass by the main street of Astana.

44.
Bayterek glows in the center of Astana at night.

45.
Participant of a New Year's party celebrate for the coming year in Astana's five-star hotel Rixos President Hotel Astana on Dec. 31. 2010. The entrance ticket for the party costed about $500 per person.

46.
Participant of a New Year's party celebrate for the coming year in Astana's five-star hotel Rixos President Hotel Astana on Dec. 31. 2010. The entrance ticket for the party costed about $500 per person.

47.
Participant of a New Year's party celebrate for the coming year in Astana's five-star hotel Rixos President Hotel Astana on Dec. 31. 2010. The entrance ticket for the party costed about $500 per person.

48.
Participant of a New Year's party celebrate for the coming year in Astana's five-star hotel Rixos President Hotel Astana on Dec. 31. 2010. The entrance ticket for the party costed about $500 per person.

49.
Participant of a New Year's party celebrate for the coming year in Astana's five-star hotel Rixos President Hotel Astana on Dec. 31. 2010. The entrance ticket for the party costed about $500 per person.

50
Participant of a New Year's party celebrate for the coming year in Astana's five-star hotel Rixos President Hotel Astana on Dec. 31. 2010. The entrance ticket for the party costed about $500 per person.

thanks!

Dear masters,
Actually I don’t know where is the beginning of my story, because I have several people and each of them have his/her own story different from the other. Each story is very personal. And I couldn’t show objective situation on it. Also I have very few characters. As for me, the main moment surprising me was the fact that every story is not so typical as I expected.

10-160
Gaptrashit Iskakov, 58 who worked in an underground coal mine during 38 years. Now he think that he was deceived, because in the beginning as he thought he should get 2,5 million tenge ($17,000), but finally he got only 1,5 million tenge ($10,000). Now he is staying at his home doing nothing to live better. Almost every night he drinks beer. "I was robbed for a million", - he says. He is looking for who is guilty for his unhappiness. Seems, he is offended for the whole world for such injustice.
The last time I photographed him he visited his friends at his friend’s home. Actually this is not house just a place, we call it summer kitchen which is beside the house. They were drinking vodka and they allowed me to photograph them. Both of his friends are former miners now they are pensioners. They worked at the same mine.

161-245
Yuri Peremyshlin, 56. He said this was very difficult decision for him. But the members of his family insisted on it. Now he feels himself better. Right after he left his job he felt himself uncomfortable. He used to stay at home about a year being busy with his kitchen-garden.
The money he received when left the job, he spent for buying a car BMW (not new) and for repairing his home.
He works at the private production company now by the similar speciality. Except the salary he is getting government dotation.
He get to his job by bus because the first working day his new collegues mocked him . They said him, - 'You have such a good car, why do you need work? Do you need this job to spent time?' I photographed how he is coming to his working place by bus.

260-300
Lyudmila Suchkova, 61, worked at Arcelor Mittal as an engineer of the department of mining equipment almost for thirty years. Then she decided to leave her job and take money 2 years ago. Now she is unemployed but she is getting her pension. After her daughter got married and left home, she lives alone with a dog named Ada. The money she had taken went away fast. She didn't buy something she dreamed. She spent money just for living and repairing her home.

310-340
Zoya Bannikova, 54, worked at the department of technical control during 30 years. She was happy to leave her job. She got 2 million tenge ($13,500). She put her money at the bank deposit. She has a plan to buy a new apartment.Now Zoya Bannikova does not regret anything. Sometimes just misses out on her colleagues she worked with.

Sarah

Pauline, here are the images

Dear Mikhail,
(I realize it is confusing to know where to post assignments and comments and that sometimes I can press a button to make an edit and sometimes there is no "edit" button…So I am responding to your post for the final edit HERE, even thought the images were posted on week 5, to try to bring us all up to date.)

I really like the sensuous low-light exposure of your work. It reminds me of some of the work I see in National Geographic magazine, the Kodachrome years. This can be tricky because you can easily get too dark to see or a star of blinding light. You might want to take a lighting class at some point, with a master like David Alan Harvey or Georgui Pinkhassov (does he teach?) to master the technique.
That said, I selected the following 7 images as my favorite, and went back to your shoot at Joy Commune and added 7 of those images as well. You have a solid start to a much larger story …one or two more villages, a change of season, and you will have a complete project ready for publication!
Nice work!
sarah

What has changed in the lives of those people who worked for Arcelor Mittal companies for many years, has agreed to leave the job voluntarily in return for monetary compensation.

People worked for many years at Arcelor Mittal plant and coal mines. Three years ago the scheme of voluntarily dismissal was invented at Arcelor Mittal. It was dealing with the world economic crisis. According the scheme people who are under the pension age could take money any moment as monetary compensation and leave their job. The only condition was no one of those who had taken the money will never work at Arcelor Mittal’s industries.

They were paid about 1 million tenghe (US $6500). How they are living today? Some of them began to drink alcohol. They are still in depression. But there are some who are living happily, doing that they were dreaming about during many years while worked at industry. Also there are those who is bearing different things they have never done before, just for surviving because they need to feed their families. Leaving their job voluntarily most of those people were not looking forward for the nearest perspective and now have no ideas how to live unemployed.
What happened with those people? What are they now? How they spent their money?

Images#10-30. Yuri Peremyshlin, 56, says this was very difficult decision for him. But the members of his family insisted on it. Right after he left his job he felt himself uncomfortable. He used to stay at home about a year being busy with his kitchen-garden. Now he feels himself better. The money he received when left the job, he spent for buying a car BMW (not new) and for repairing his home. He works at the private production company now by the similar speciality. Except the salary he is getting government dotation.

Images#40-60. Gaptrashit Iskakov, 58, worked in an underground coal mine during 38 years. Now he think that he was deceived, because in the beginning as he thought he should get 2,5 million tenge ($17,000), but finally he got only 1,5 million tenge ($10,000). Now he is staying at his home doing nothing to live better. Almost every night he drinks alcohol. "I was robbed for a million", - he says. He is looking for those who are guilty in his unhappiness.

Images#70-80. Lyudmila Suchkova, 61, worked at Arcelor Mittal as an engineer of the department of mining equipment almost for thirty years. Two years ago she decided to leave her job and take money. Now she is unemployed but she is getting her pension. After her daughter got married and left home, she lives alone with a dog named Ada. The money she had recieved went away fast. She spent money just for living and repairing her home.

Image#90. Zoya Bannikova, 54, worked at the department of technical control during 30 years. She was happy to leave her job. She got 2 million tenge ($13,500). She put her money at the bank deposit. Her husband is still working at mine. They have a plan to buy a new apartament. Zoya Bannikova does not regret about her decision. Sometimes she just misses out on her colleagues.

Image#100. Lyubov Stepanova, 56, worked as a boiler engineer for 29 years at mine. Her husband is still working at mine. She will get pension after 2 years. She is getting a government dotation. She doesn't work now. The money she had received when she left her job, she put at the bank deposit.