Christian Houge’s large-scale photographs document
places of extreme isolation that seem to exist outside
of time – either decades ahead of or behind the
present. The images were taken on the island of
Svalbard near the North Pole. Due to its pure
atmosphere and northerly position, scientists have
installed extensive technical constructions for climate
research and space observations. These uncanny,
snowy landscapes form the series ‘Arctic Technology.’

The ‘Barentsburg’ and ‘Pyramid’ series were taken in
the Russian mining towns of the same names. After
decades of prosperity during the Soviet era, these
settlements have declined or shut down entirely. The
few remaining people in Barentsburg seem frozen in
time. The abandoned buildings of Pyramid speak to a
Communist ideology of progress now relegated to
history and entropy.