Last week, when we published a photo series from Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre on the ruins of Detroit, an offended Flavorwire commenter asked what was next for the duo: a project on Chernobyl? Photographer David Schindler recently visited the site of the nuclear tragedy, and documented what the surrounding area looks like 25 years later. While some might call his work disaster porn, it’s the closest most of us will ever get to witnessing the devastation firsthand. It also puts into perspective how in spite of efforts by the United Nations Development Programme, there’s still a long way to go before the region can return to anything approaching normal life. Click through to view a gallery of Schindler’s work.
Photo credit: David Shindler. [Image via TotallyCoolPix]
Comments (15)
Wow, impressive. The ‘beauty’ of a disaster.
It’s such a fine line between indulging in other peoples’ tragedy (I like the term “disaster porn”) and being fascinated by incredibly cool photography.
I wrote a similar post about abandoned amusement parks, and mentioned the park at Chernobyl. If anyone is interested here’s the link http://www.nileguide.com/blog/2010/08/28/8-abandoned-theme-parks-abroad-open-for-exploration/.
The images are powerful, well-composed, and insightful. Technically, it seems that some images had been overly tweaked in the current HDR [high-dynamic range] post-processing technique, to get images that are currently accepted as “post-apocalyptic”.
What it’s missing is any kind of storyline… Are these cars ones that were abandoned when the accident took place? Is this swimming pool part of a school that was vacated before the radiation cloud descended? Are these drawings of Gorbachev ones that have been sitting on the ground like this for 25 years? Are there really no people living anywhere in the city anymore? What do the Russian letters spell out on the wall above that doorway? There is no storyline, no explication. Nice pictures. Where’s the story that goes with?
[...] Link to Slideshow [...]
agreed, nice photography, and I would love to see them without the overdone cheesy post production. I am reminded of an episode of Vice Mags travel show that took place around chernobyl, if you want to see more of the area check it out on netflix.
@KDS i agree. time for the russian spinoff of ‘american pickers,’ wouldn’t they just have a blast with those paintings…. but wait, oh nevermind, its probably only in america that we have so much brand-new cheap crap that busted up OLD junk becomes MORE valuable.. everywhere else, its still just junk.
totally unoriginal, already done to death by robert polidori (w/o cheesy hdr).
I called it disaster porn and I made the comment about Chernobyl. I dont think I’ll be making anymore comments since you’re
1. just promoting exactly what should be critiqued
2. kudos for the acknowledgment.
2. is sarcastic FYI. should read “while commentator reel aesthete calls this disaster porn….”
2. is sarcastic, in case that was missed. the paragraph should read: “while commentator reel aesthete calls this disaster porn….”
Looks a little bit like Havana ..today.
[...] Flavorwire ยป Photo Gallery: Chernobyl 25 Years Later [...]
If you are interested in a fresh perspective and a bit of history and even discussion about disaster porn in Chernobyl:
http://smithjan.com/blog/2011/02/02/chernobyl-25-years-revisited-wanderings-in-pripyat/
Beautiful shots. Its always been a dream of mine to go to Chernobyl (after the radiation cools down of course). This article just makes me want to go even more!
Fine Art Photos of Pripyat from 2011
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/15rVuN/www.buzzfeed.com/jansmithphotography/1-entrance-to-pripyat-377x
Post a new comment