Viewfinder: Coal Miners Gather in Poland

Author:: Pacific Standard Staff
Publish date:: Dec 5, 2018

Coal miners from Poland's Pniowek coal mine carry a painting of Saint Barbara on Barbórka, their annual day of tribute to Barbara, from the mine to their local church on December 4th, 2018, in Pawlowice, near Wodzislaw Slaski, Poland. Barbara is the patron saint of coal miners, and every December 4th, miners across Poland celebrate her with a march, a religious mass, and a festive gathering. Coal provides about 80 percent of Poland's electricity. The mines, many of them in the region of Silesia in southern Poland, employ tens of thousands of workers. Meanwhile, the United Nations' COP 24 climate conference is taking place in nearby Katowice. — Coal miners from Poland's Pniowek coal mine carry a painting of Saint Barbara on Barbórka, their annual day of tribute to Barbara, from the mine to their local church on December 4th, 2018, in Pawlowice, near Wodzislaw Slaski, Poland. Barbara is the patron saint of coal miners, and every December 4th, miners across Poland celebrate her with a march, a religious mass, and a festive gathering. Coal provides about 80 percent of Poland's electricity. The mines, many of them in the region of Silesia in southern Poland, employ tens of thousands of workers. Meanwhile, the United Nations' COP 24 climate conference is taking place in nearby Katowice.
(Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Viewfinder is Pacific Standard's daily photo feature, showcasing one image from the news.

Police officers look on as Greenpeace activists hang from ropes after unfurling a banner outside the German embassy in a protest against coal on October 8th, 2018, in London, England. The stunt by the environmental campaign group came on the day that a report was released by the United Nations' top climate science panel calling for accelerated action to tackle climate change.

Police officers look on as Greenpeace activists hang from ropes after unfurling a banner outside the German embassy in a protest against coal on October 8th, 2018, in London, England.

Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal (right) and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier light Europe's largest menorah during a public lighting ceremony on the first night of Hanukkah, on December 2nd, 2018, in Berlin, Germany.

Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal (right) and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier light Europe's largest menorah during a public ceremony on the first night of Hanukkah, on December 2nd, 2018, in Berlin, Germany.

Revelers parade through the streets of Lewes in East Sussex, southern England, on November 5th, 2018, during traditional Bonfire Night celebrations. Thousands of people attended the annual parade through the narrow streets until the evening came to an end with the burning of an effigy or "guy," usually representing Guy Fawkes, who died in 1605 after an unsuccessful attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament.

Revelers parade through the streets of Lewes in East Sussex, southern England, on November 5th, 2018, during traditional Bonfire Night celebrations.

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President Donald Trump lights a "diya," or oil lamp, as Indian Ambassador to the United States Navtej Singh Sarna looks on during a Diwali ceremony in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on November 13th, 2018, in Washington, D.C. Trump was criticized online for tweets about the ceremony that mentioned Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists but omitted Hindus, the primary celebrants of the holiday.

President Donald Trump lights a "diya," or oil lamp, as Indian Ambassador to the United States Navtej Singh Sarna looks on during a Diwali ceremony at the White House on November 13th, 2018.

White House adviser and first daughter Ivanka Trump and her children Arabella, Joseph, and Theodore attend a turkey pardoning event as they watch Peas, one of the two turkeys, at the Rose Garden of the White House on November 20th, 2018, in Washington, D.C. The two pardoned turkeys, Peas and Carrots, will spend the rest of their lives at a farm after the annual Thanksgiving presidential tradition.

The two pardoned turkeys, Peas and Carrots, will spend the rest of their lives at a farm after the annual Thanksgiving presidential tradition.