Magnum Editions Poster: “The Door to Hell” Darvaza, Turkmenistan. 2009.

Carolyn Drake is an award-winning photographer whose work seeks to subvert dominant historical narratives around overlooked communities and cultures. This 2009 photograph, from Drake’s book Two Rivers, is of Turkmenistan’s Darvaza gas crater. Nicknamed "The Door To Hell”, it has been burning since 1971, when Soviet geologists set it alight while trying to burn off gas in an underground cavern to prevent workers from being poisoned. While travelling around central Asia, Drake said that she began to realise a “vast number of histories and legends and faiths of the region are linked to the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya rivers.” Those two waterways and their surroundings, which includes Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, became the subject of Two Rivers. The work provided an insight into life in these five central Asian nations, exploring the intersection of two systems: Islam, the dominant religion in the region, and its relationship to the formerly Russian way of life.

Size: 18 x 24 in (45.7 x 61 cm)
Printed on 135gsm FSC certified Symbol Tatami paper

This poster is for personal use only, intended for display in the home or other private spaces. For all other purposes, such as display in public spaces or institutions, publishing the image online or in print, or any other form of usage, permission must be granted by Magnum Photos. Please contact the Magnum Shop with any questions.

Each frame is hand-crafted and made-to-order and includes framing-grade quality plexiglass, which comes with ~60% UV protection.

Please allow up to three additional weeks before your order is shipped when ordering a framed item.

Please note: due to the nature of the framing process the artist archival stamp that is on the recto of our Contact Sheet, Darkroom and Magnum Edition prints will be obscured upon framing.

All of our prints are shipped flat and separately from other items in your order. Unframed posters are shipped within a sturdy tube.

If you order a framed print will ship carefully packed in bubble wrap and a sturdy box separately from other items in your order.

Please allow an extra three weeks for delivery for all framed items.

All posters are shipped carefully rolled up in a tube separately from other items in your order. If you order a framed poster it will ship carefully packed in bubble wrap and a sturdy box separately from other items in your order. Please allow an extra 3 weeks for framing your orders.

Kindly be aware that this item will be shipped from the United States and is subject to any applicable duties and taxes imposed by the destination country. These charges will be calculated and applied at the checkout and are the responsibility of the purchaser.