The Swiss photographer Yann Mingard worked for four years on his book Deposit, from 2009 to 2013, during which time he captured numerous locations in Europe where various forms of our legacy are preserved. Mingard, who was trained as a botanist, first discovered his fascination for our drive to protect our earthly heritage at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a large storage facility for plant seeds in Spitsbergen.
He made a series of photos of this icy place for Le Monde. Hereafter he decided to continue. After first conducting a comprehensive study of how seeds, DNA, stem cells, molars, sperm and computer data are stored, he divided his project into four parts: plants, animals, people and data. “I have tried to photograph the most archetypal repositories of each category in a sober, documentary style while providing the necessary information in short, dry captions. It had to be a report in the same way as the stored data.”
Secret
The photos were shot in a variety of diverse locations: Norway, Russia, Belgium, France, England, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, and many were taken in Mingard's home base, Switzerland. However, Mingard choosing Switzerland as a location did not come out of the blue. In addition to banking secrecy, Switzerland also has a highly esteemed reputation for hiding computer data from large companies and governments . “It was therefore not easy to enter the old war bunkers where these secret places were. Sometimes I was allowed to shoot just for a very short time. The guards were afraid that the logos of companies would appear. Everything had to be depicted very discreetly.”
Mingard made the photo of Safehost in Plan-les-Ouates near Geneva. “In the case of data loss, the companies can be completely restarted there. A complete workplace has been set up where hundreds of people can work.” There are many bunkers with data storage facilities in Switzerland. In one photo, we see the entrance of Berg10, known as "the Swiss Fort Knox", Saanen-Gstaad. The complex was built by the Swiss army in 1946 and became a data centre in 1993. Multinationals, banks and Asian governments hold their secret data here.
Also, at the Bahnhof Pionen in Stockholm, a rock-cut depot has a secret computer centre set up inside it. Here, Mingard was only allowed to work for a short period of time. "I only got an hour and couldn't take more than five photos, but that was just enough for my project."
Doors as metaphors
Due to restricted access to certain locations, Mingard consciously decided to photograph those closed doors. “To me, the doors are metaphorical objects. They indicate that the repositories are secret and that no one can access them. The doors are symbols of man's fear of losing his heritage.”
On the other hand, it turned out to be surprisingly easy to take pictures of the Wikileaks servers, which are also housed in the Bahnhof Pionen in Stockholm. “I had read in a magazine article that the owner of the server room where the Wiki Leaks were kept was very proud. I decided to write to him immediately, and shortly afterwards I got full access. I was told I could have as much time as I wanted to take my pictures. But in the end, the photo I used is just a small part of the rows of servers. It also shows that there is essentially not much to see.”
A very bizarre photo is in the chapter ‘Humans’, taken in Alabushevo, near Moscow. We see a large barrel in a completely unscientific and messy attic. It contains corpses or just their brains. The sober credit underneath the photo states that a vessel being worked on is transparent, this is so the next of kin can view the corpse if they’d like. Lenin's mausoleum illustrates that the Russians have a long tradition of laying bodies. Mingard also took a picture of this . “I didn't photograph Lenin myself. I thought that wouldn’t be useful because everyone now knows it. I found it more interesting to photograph the space. The mausoleum is symbolic of man's longing for immortality. The Russians cut his brain into small slices to analyse Lenin's genius. They would like to revive their communist leaders one more time.”
Europe’s fear
Mingard sees the search for the scientific, and sometimes irrational, ways to safeguard human existence as a symptom of the European crisis. “I grew up as a photojournalist and because of this I always was occupied with the news. I read a lot, and so I keep in touch with the Zeitgeist. I want to express this in my photography. We have had an economic crisis, and we are still living with the threat of economic powerhouses such as China and Brazil. Europe is feeling weakened, and I see this drive as a fear of losing our life. Europe used to be the continent that colonised the world. Now Europe preserves the heritage of life so that it can leave for Mars, in a manner of speaking.” In the preservation instinct of European man, Mingard also sees a reference to the Christian tradition. “It is striking how many nicknames of the locations have Biblical references. The location in Spitsbergen is called Noah's Ark. Other places were called the Garden of Eden.”
Mingard not only wants to take photos, but he also wants to initiate a debate. By showing how anxiously we are preserving our biological and economic legacy, he wants to pose the question of where this fear comes from, and how we can look at it ourselves. That is why photography is a versatile instrument for him. “For me, documentary and autonomous photography are basically the same. I am not an activist or a social photographer. The old-fashioned type Magnum photographer is outdated. I am neutral with regard to my subject. But photography is not the narrow path of art either. I use photography as a tool to make my statement. That is why I think the connection with texts is vital. And even the connection to music. Special accompanying music is played at my exhibition.”
The Swiss photographer Yann Mingard worked for four years on his book Deposit, from 2009 to 2013, during which time he captured numerous locations in Europe where various forms of our legacy are preserved. Mingard, who was trained as a botanist, first discovered his fascination for our drive to protect our earthly heritage at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a large storage facility for plant seeds in Spitsbergen.
He made a series of photos of this icy place for Le Monde. Hereafter he decided to continue. After first conducting a comprehensive study of how seeds, DNA, stem cells, molars, sperm and computer data are stored, he divided his project into four parts: plants, animals, people and data. “I have tried to photograph the most archetypal repositories of each category in a sober, documentary style while providing the necessary information in short, dry captions. It had to be a report in the same way as the stored data.”
Secret
The photos were shot in a variety of diverse locations: Norway, Russia, Belgium, France, England, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, and many were taken in Mingard's home base, Switzerland. However, Mingard choosing Switzerland as a location did not come out of the blue. In addition to banking secrecy, Switzerland also has a highly esteemed reputation for hiding computer data from large companies and governments . “It was therefore not easy to enter the old war bunkers where these secret places were. Sometimes I was allowed to shoot just for a very short time. The guards were afraid that the logos of companies would appear. Everything had to be depicted very discreetly.”
Mingard made the photo of Safehost in Plan-les-Ouates near Geneva. “In the case of data loss, the companies can be completely restarted there. A complete workplace has been set up where hundreds of people can work.” There are many bunkers with data storage facilities in Switzerland. In one photo, we see the entrance of Berg10, known as "the Swiss Fort Knox", Saanen-Gstaad. The complex was built by the Swiss army in 1946 and became a data centre in 1993. Multinationals, banks and Asian governments hold their secret data here.
Also, at the Bahnhof Pionen in Stockholm, a rock-cut depot has a secret computer centre set up inside it. Here, Mingard was only allowed to work for a short period of time. "I only got an hour and couldn't take more than five photos, but that was just enough for my project."
Doors as metaphors
Due to restricted access to certain locations, Mingard consciously decided to photograph those closed doors. “To me, the doors are metaphorical objects. They indicate that the repositories are secret and that no one can access them. The doors are symbols of man's fear of losing his heritage.”
On the other hand, it turned out to be surprisingly easy to take pictures of the Wikileaks servers, which are also housed in the Bahnhof Pionen in Stockholm. “I had read in a magazine article that the owner of the server room where the Wiki Leaks were kept was very proud. I decided to write to him immediately, and shortly afterwards I got full access. I was told I could have as much time as I wanted to take my pictures. But in the end, the photo I used is just a small part of the rows of servers. It also shows that there is essentially not much to see.”
A very bizarre photo is in the chapter ‘Humans’, taken in Alabushevo, near Moscow. We see a large barrel in a completely unscientific and messy attic. It contains corpses or just their brains. The sober credit underneath the photo states that a vessel being worked on is transparent, this is so the next of kin can view the corpse if they’d like. Lenin's mausoleum illustrates that the Russians have a long tradition of laying bodies. Mingard also took a picture of this . “I didn't photograph Lenin myself. I thought that wouldn’t be useful because everyone now knows it. I found it more interesting to photograph the space. The mausoleum is symbolic of man's longing for immortality. The Russians cut his brain into small slices to analyse Lenin's genius. They would like to revive their communist leaders one more time.”
Europe’s fear
Mingard sees the search for the scientific, and sometimes irrational, ways to safeguard human existence as a symptom of the European crisis. “I grew up as a photojournalist and because of this I always was occupied with the news. I read a lot, and so I keep in touch with the Zeitgeist. I want to express this in my photography. We have had an economic crisis, and we are still living with the threat of economic powerhouses such as China and Brazil. Europe is feeling weakened, and I see this drive as a fear of losing our life. Europe used to be the continent that colonised the world. Now Europe preserves the heritage of life so that it can leave for Mars, in a manner of speaking.” In the preservation instinct of European man, Mingard also sees a reference to the Christian tradition. “It is striking how many nicknames of the locations have Biblical references. The location in Spitsbergen is called Noah's Ark. Other places were called the Garden of Eden.”
Mingard not only wants to take photos, but he also wants to initiate a debate. By showing how anxiously we are preserving our biological and economic legacy, he wants to pose the question of where this fear comes from, and how we can look at it ourselves. That is why photography is a versatile instrument for him. “For me, documentary and autonomous photography are basically the same. I am not an activist or a social photographer. The old-fashioned type Magnum photographer is outdated. I am neutral with regard to my subject. But photography is not the narrow path of art either. I use photography as a tool to make my statement. That is why I think the connection with texts is vital. And even the connection to music. Special accompanying music is played at my exhibition.”
The Swiss photographer Yann Mingard worked for four years on his book Deposit, from 2009 to 2013, during which time he captured numerous locations in Europe where various forms of our legacy are preserved. Mingard, who was trained as a botanist, first discovered his fascination for our drive to protect our earthly heritage at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a large storage facility for plant seeds in Spitsbergen.
He made a series of photos of this icy place for Le Monde. Hereafter he decided to continue. After first conducting a comprehensive study of how seeds, DNA, stem cells, molars, sperm and computer data are stored, he divided his project into four parts: plants, animals, people and data. “I have tried to photograph the most archetypal repositories of each category in a sober, documentary style while providing the necessary information in short, dry captions. It had to be a report in the same way as the stored data.”
Secret
The photos were shot in a variety of diverse locations: Norway, Russia, Belgium, France, England, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, and many were taken in Mingard's home base, Switzerland. However, Mingard choosing Switzerland as a location did not come out of the blue. In addition to banking secrecy, Switzerland also has a highly esteemed reputation for hiding computer data from large companies and governments . “It was therefore not easy to enter the old war bunkers where these secret places were. Sometimes I was allowed to shoot just for a very short time. The guards were afraid that the logos of companies would appear. Everything had to be depicted very discreetly.”
Mingard made the photo of Safehost in Plan-les-Ouates near Geneva. “In the case of data loss, the companies can be completely restarted there. A complete workplace has been set up where hundreds of people can work.” There are many bunkers with data storage facilities in Switzerland. In one photo, we see the entrance of Berg10, known as "the Swiss Fort Knox", Saanen-Gstaad. The complex was built by the Swiss army in 1946 and became a data centre in 1993. Multinationals, banks and Asian governments hold their secret data here.
Also, at the Bahnhof Pionen in Stockholm, a rock-cut depot has a secret computer centre set up inside it. Here, Mingard was only allowed to work for a short period of time. "I only got an hour and couldn't take more than five photos, but that was just enough for my project."
Doors as metaphors
Due to restricted access to certain locations, Mingard consciously decided to photograph those closed doors. “To me, the doors are metaphorical objects. They indicate that the repositories are secret and that no one can access them. The doors are symbols of man's fear of losing his heritage.”
On the other hand, it turned out to be surprisingly easy to take pictures of the Wikileaks servers, which are also housed in the Bahnhof Pionen in Stockholm. “I had read in a magazine article that the owner of the server room where the Wiki Leaks were kept was very proud. I decided to write to him immediately, and shortly afterwards I got full access. I was told I could have as much time as I wanted to take my pictures. But in the end, the photo I used is just a small part of the rows of servers. It also shows that there is essentially not much to see.”
A very bizarre photo is in the chapter ‘Humans’, taken in Alabushevo, near Moscow. We see a large barrel in a completely unscientific and messy attic. It contains corpses or just their brains. The sober credit underneath the photo states that a vessel being worked on is transparent, this is so the next of kin can view the corpse if they’d like. Lenin's mausoleum illustrates that the Russians have a long tradition of laying bodies. Mingard also took a picture of this . “I didn't photograph Lenin myself. I thought that wouldn’t be useful because everyone now knows it. I found it more interesting to photograph the space. The mausoleum is symbolic of man's longing for immortality. The Russians cut his brain into small slices to analyse Lenin's genius. They would like to revive their communist leaders one more time.”
Europe’s fear
Mingard sees the search for the scientific, and sometimes irrational, ways to safeguard human existence as a symptom of the European crisis. “I grew up as a photojournalist and because of this I always was occupied with the news. I read a lot, and so I keep in touch with the Zeitgeist. I want to express this in my photography. We have had an economic crisis, and we are still living with the threat of economic powerhouses such as China and Brazil. Europe is feeling weakened, and I see this drive as a fear of losing our life. Europe used to be the continent that colonised the world. Now Europe preserves the heritage of life so that it can leave for Mars, in a manner of speaking.” In the preservation instinct of European man, Mingard also sees a reference to the Christian tradition. “It is striking how many nicknames of the locations have Biblical references. The location in Spitsbergen is called Noah's Ark. Other places were called the Garden of Eden.”
Mingard not only wants to take photos, but he also wants to initiate a debate. By showing how anxiously we are preserving our biological and economic legacy, he wants to pose the question of where this fear comes from, and how we can look at it ourselves. That is why photography is a versatile instrument for him. “For me, documentary and autonomous photography are basically the same. I am not an activist or a social photographer. The old-fashioned type Magnum photographer is outdated. I am neutral with regard to my subject. But photography is not the narrow path of art either. I use photography as a tool to make my statement. That is why I think the connection with texts is vital. And even the connection to music. Special accompanying music is played at my exhibition.”
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