This showcase features the Chernobyl photography of Philip Cornish. Phillip is a photojournalist from London, England, who has travelled to remote parts of the world in order to photographically document these areas and stories. Chernobyl is part of the Ukraine, and famously suffered a nuclear disaster in 1986. It has been left pretty much untouched ever since.
Phil visited the area in 2011, and told Photophique about his experience:
Chernobyl is not like many places that I have had the opportunity to visit globally, starting with the isolating journey to the abandoned city of Pripyat, 90 minutes outside Kiev. Before the catastrophic nuclear accident in April 1986, around 49,000 people lived in Chernobyl but now the town is completely deserted.
Being my first photography-based international trip, I wanted to put together a strong set of photos to reflect the eeriness and emotional atmosphere of the site. From the empty fairground (that was supposed to open 2 days after the date of the disaster) to the dropped teddy bear in the school yard Chernobyl was a fascinating experience. I am pleased that the photos I came away with resonate with grief and history with even inanimate objects and settings telling their own strong stories.
I would have liked to stay there longer but when I visited in 2011 the authorities were very restrictive of the amount of time people are allowed to spend in the area: whether for health or political reasons I’m not sure. I’ve since heard that all tours and visits have become totally prohibited.
You can see more of Phil’s work via philipcornish.com
Photophique has express permission to publish these images and Philip Cornish retains full copyright to all photographs featured in this showcase series.
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