The photographs provide a glimpse into life in the isolated 20th-century mining settlement of “Pyramiden” on Spitsbergen, in the heart of the Arctic. The men and women had to work hard, and every need was taken care of. The west coast of Spitsbergen had been used by whalers since the 17th century and was developed by mining companies for coal extraction beginning in the early 20th century. The town of Pyramiden was founded in 1910 by a Swedish company to mine the abundant coal deposits and was sold to the Soviet Union in 1927. Since then, up to 1,000 people have lived and worked there. They had a cafeteria, a school, a sports and cultural center, and a swimming pool. Pyramiden was abandoned in 1998 and has been a ghost town ever since.