SVEN ZELLNER PHOTOGRAPHY CINEMATOGRAPHY EXHIBITIONS VITA IMPRINT
  NINJAS - GOLD RUSH MONGOLIA MONGOLIAN DISCO MONGOLIAN NOMADS NOMADIC CHILDREN DENJIIN MYANGA NAADAM - HORSE RACE NALAIKH - COAL MINES
 
  PRICE OF GOLD CHILDHOOD IN ROMANIA AIDS EPIDEMIC GREENLAND'S FUTURE GENERATION BAYERISCHER WALD LANDSCAPES

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Urangoo Altangerel, President of UA Consulting LLC, head of a human resorces agency, „Uran-Beauty“ jewelry manufacturer and Real-estate agent.

 

 

Ninja Miners Gold Rush Mongolia - copyright 2012 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Sanjmyatav Yadamsuren, Mongolian Minister of Labour, Member of State Great Hural

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Mongolian girl group »EXTACY«

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Blue Sky Tower

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Major, Bat-Erdene and his 1st Lieutenant.

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Ariunzul Oyunbaatar

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Kyokushuzan Noboru Davaagiin Batbayar in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. He is a former professional sumo wrestler and current politician of Democratic Party. He was the first wrestler from Mongolia to reach sumo‘s top makuuchi division.

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Cashmere Workshop

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Batbilig Tungalag in his Lexus

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Ganchuluun Gandolgor in the Ramada Hotel.

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Shaman

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Dashzeveg. “DzMan” “busy man”, TV moderator, political correspondent, UBS MUSIC AND VIDEO AWARD

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

DJ, Metropolis Club.

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Mass Club

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Metropolis Club.

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Batbilig Tungalag at his construction site. Managing Director of Natural Stone LLC

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Ariunzul Oyunbaatar preparing for show.

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Galbadrakh Badarch with his cousin Ganchuluun Gandolgor in his Lexus

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Bebe Venus taking a bath in Tuul River in winter at minus 20 degree centigrade.

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Models preparing for fashion show.

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Odbayar Bayarmagnai, CEO of Octopus Consulting taking a bath in Tuul River in winter at minus 20 degree centigrade.

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Amundra Amartuvshin, CEO of MASS MEDIA LLC, Box Networks (CNN, NBA and Bundesliga Broadcast). Temporary adviser of the Mongolian Prime Minister.

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Trade in sheep meat in the Ger-district an area where people live who can’t afford flats.

 

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Bodi Tower

 

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Trade in sheep meat in the Ger-district an area where people live who can’t afford flats.

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

ger district

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

ger district

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Ganchuluun Gandolgor in the Ramada Hotel.

 

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

ger district

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Ulaanbaatar

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Battulag 33 years old, homeless.

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Battulag 33 years old, homeless.

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Mongolian minister of defense D Bat-Erdene at a Mongolian horse race in the Hoppegarten, Berlin.

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

dog, ger-district.

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Girl on the way to school.

 

 

Mongolian Disco - Urban Mongolia - copyright 2016 Sven Zellner/Agentur Focus

Mongolian girl group »EXTACY«

 

 

MONGOLIAN DISCO

MONGOLIAN DISCO. A rush for natural resources like coal and gold has filled pockets in Mongolia, one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. But the country is also facing rising inequalities.

A city in transformation. Genghis Khan, 800 years of nomadic culture, a country four times the size of Germany with less than three million inhabitants, a boom in the mining industry and a capital city growing in leaps and bounds – all this is Mongolia. Soon half the population will be living in Ulan Bator and I find this extreme development hard to comprehend. The evolution from a nomadic to an urban society has happened at incredible speed: in only a dacade cars have increased threefold, the number of inhabitants from 700,000 to 1.2 million, with the worst recorded levels of city pollution anywhere, and sky scrapers springing up christened with names like Central Tower and Blue Sky Tower.

As a result of the boom in natural resources, a new class of super-rich has emerged, similar to the oligarchs in Russia, but with the significant difference that Mongolia’s super rich prefer to remain in the background. During the extremely harsh winter of 2010, nearly one-quarter of all farm animals died and the price of meat doubled. In the city, all prices are on the rise. The loss of green pastures as a result of the tough winters, coupled with the shortage of water caused by mining, have forced many nomads to migrate to the capital with two-thirds of the population living on the outskirts in massive yurt districts. Countless coal-burning stoves pollute the air, representing an enormous health hazard, and the gap between rich and poor is growing, the numbers of homeless people increasing, and unemployment is high.

Rich and famous. Kyokushuzan Noboru was born as Davaagiin Batbayar in Mongolia. He lived in Japan for seventeen years working as a professional Sumo wrestler. He was the first Mongol to make it into the Sumo Makuuchi division, which made him rich and famous in Japan. He chose not to accept Japanese nationality, returning to Mongolia in 2006 after his Sumo wrestling career was over. He is a Democratic politician and was a member of Parliament till 2012. Batbayar explains that there is no middle class in Mongolia and that the gap between the rich and the poor is constantly increasing. According to Batbayar, Mongols have to learn that team work is essential for success. In addition, the country needs innovation from abroad. To finish, we ask him what is an Er Hun’s understanding of manhood. The question makes people laugh. Batbayer is serious. “I am the best answer to that question. I earned self-confidence through sumo wrestling, because it forced me to measure my strength against other men. I have lived like a Khan and have achieved everything through my own effort. I started out as a cleaner and had nothing. For that reason I also believe that my country will get ahead.”

   

 

publications

»MONGOLIAN DISCO« LFI magazine · 02/2014

»MONGOLIAN DISCO« EMERGE MAG · 2014

»MONGOLIAN DISCO« Leica blog · 2014

»MONGOLE MIT KOHLE« DAS MAGAZIN (wöchentliche Beilage des Tagesanzeigers, der Basler Zeitung, der Berner Zeitung und Bund)

»ULNA-BATOR - Das steinerne Herz der Mongolei« GEO international · 05/2014

»The Changing Face of Mongolia« CNN photo blog

»MONGOLIAN DISCO« Progresso Fotografico Leica’s Special Edition 2014

»MONGOLIAN DISCO« Lensculture 2015

»MONGOLIAN DISCO« Delayed Gratification 2015

 

 

 

exhibitions

»MONGOLIAN DISCO« RADIALSYSTEM V · single exhibition · Berlin 2014

»MONGOLIAN DISCO« LFI Leica Gallery · single exhibition · Hamburg 2014

»MONGOLIAN DISCO« German House · 871 UN Plaza · 1st avenue between East 49th and 48th st · New York 2015

 

 

Mongolian Disco

RADIALSYSTEM V · single exhibition · Berlin 2014

 

Mongolian Disco Exhibition 2014 New York

MONGOLIAN DISCO · German House · 871 UN Plaza · 1st avenue between East 49th and 48th st · New York · January 2015

 

 

text and photos copyright 2013 Sven Zellner | Agentur Focus

 

 

 

SVEN ZELLNER PHOTOGRAPHY CINEMATOGRAPHY EXHIBITIONS VITA IMPRINT
  NINJAS - GOLD RUSH MONGOLIA MONGOLIAN DISCO MONGOLIAN NOMADS NOMADIC CHILDREN DENJIIN MYANGA NAADAM - HORSE RACE NALAIKH - COAL MINES
 
  PRICE OF GOLD CHILDHOOD IN ROMANIA AIDS EPIDEMIC GREENLAND'S FUTURE GENERATION BAYERISCHER WALD LANDSCAPES