In the new issue of Condé Nast Portfolio, there’s a great extended feature and photo slideshow about Vladimir Putin’s ambitions with the energy reserves of Sakhalin Island, which have brought outstanding prosperity to some islanders while leaving others in the lurch. A fairly standard item of magazine journalism of a provincial backwater going through vast and rapid economic changes, but some excellent images are offered. Some highlights after the cut. The LNG plant of the Sakhalin II energy site. (Photo: Donald Weber) Steve Burt, a Sakhalin Energy manager in charge of part of the ambitious trans-island pipeline project, has one of the hardest construction jobs on earth. The pipeline crosses 1,100 waterways and 21 seismic zones along its roughly 500-mile route. (Photo: Donald Weber)