Pyramiden, located far above the Arctic Circle on Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, has been all but abandoned since 1998 – with only 6 year-round residents.

Aleksandr Romanovsky, who likes to go by the nickname ‘Sasha from Pyramiden’ has worked as a tour guide at the Russian settlement since 2012 when, he thinks, he was the only person to apply for the job. A loner by nature, Romanovsky has come to feel at home in this unusual, otherworldly place, where he spends the time between giving tours and warding off polar bears by enjoying solitary pursuits, such as playing guitar and learning Spanish.