‘Hard Work and a Good Death‘ looks at the phase-out of the coal-mining industry in Lower Silesia, Poland. The industry has been the lifeblood for many Polish people who live and work alongside and within it. Using photography and personal interviews, Hard Work and A Good Death explores how mining communities manage the transition by celebrating and preserving their historical mining culture and by finding new economic opportunities.
Alan Gignoux is currently developing this work with Chloe Juno and Lucasz Folda. Alan made four trips to Poland in 2023, 2024, and 2025, first starting the research with Chloe, then visiting coal mines and listening to and interviewing miners with Lucasz.
This work is connected to Alan’s growing body of work, ‘BRUISED LANDS.’
The working title has been chosen whilst thinking about Saint Barbara, the patron saint associated with both “hard work” ( in dangerous trades like mining) and the desire for a “good death” (protection from sudden, unprovided death)
Alan and Lucasz have so far interviewed people working in the Coal and Copper Mining industry, ex-coal miners, academics, museum curators, and ex-coal miners working as tour guides. We are in the process of listening and editing.
“In the past, there was much more respect for coal miners’ work. Now it’s not so respected, and they are like the military, you know, you can die underground. And there is this, uh, saying, God bless you when you go underground.” Joseph Herman. Interview, Ex Coal Miner, Poland 2025.
“Well, and then it was hard, it was hard work, first because it was underground in unnatural conditions, second, in mining conditions the same as all miners worked in, and on top of those mining conditions, there was a very difficult situation as an electrician. For example, we worked with high voltages, around 6,000 volts, and the power supply for the combines was around 1,000 volts. And everything had to be coordinated so as not to get killed by the mining conditions or by electricity, so it all added up, and I say, well, I say… And in the mine, you need to have at least two basic skills. One, to have luck, and two, to think. Because if you try to predict, although you can’t predict everything“. Interview with Majerczyk Zdzisław, ex-coal miner, 2025, Poland.
Wujek Coal Mine, Training mine, Poland, research wall, Aland and Chloe photo editing at Sala 752 Photography.
Wujek Coal Mine, Training Mine, Poland, 2024.
Wujek Coal Mine, Training Mine, Poland, Photography Alan Gignoux 2024.
“I think, no, I was a slave back then. During Gierek’s era, I remember that kind of socialism. I was sitting with Marek in the office, writing a report, and I was entering the June date. At one point, I thought about those times during Gierek’s era, and I said, “Marek, you know what? I haven’t had a single day off this year—not a single day off, like Saturday, Sunday, Monday, vacation, or sick leave.”
Majerczyk, Zdzisław, ex-coal miner, 2025, Poland
Wujek Coal Mine, Training, Poland, Photography Alan Gignoux 2024.
Wujek Coal Mine, Training, Poland, Photography Alan Gignoux 2024.
“They had to have complete trust in each other. They could be enemies intheir private lives on the surface, but underground, they were dependent on one another. You couldn’t do a sloppy job underground because you knew that if you messed up, it could harm someone else, and even more so, if someone else messed up, it could harm you. So, everyone down there, because of the conditions and the situation, had to do solid, difficult, and good work. Any mistake…Well, maybe not always, but very often they ended in tragedies. If someonedidn’t pay attention to something or didn’t take care of something, then just a small spark was enough, just a small spark, and 30 people could die because of an explosion”.
Majerczyk, Zdzisław, ex-coal miner, 2025, Poland
Alan Pilarski, Tourist Guide, Coal, Poland 2025
Barbara Festival, Ex Coal Miner, Standing in front of a portrait of St Barbara, Nikiszowiec, Katowice, Poland 2023
Guido Tourist Mine, Zabrzemine, 2025
Wujek Coal Mine, Training, Poland, Photography Alan Gignoux 2024.
Barbara Festival, Nikiszowiec, Katowice, Poland 2023.
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