Chernobyl Pics Live at Pecha-Kucha Basel

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 | decay, exhibitions, project wormwood | No Comments

If you’re in Basel, Switzerland, tomorrow night, join us at “Unternehmen Mitte” in the city center for the first public presentation of my Chernobyl series. As part of Basel’s first Pecha-Kucha Night, I will be showing 20 chernopics, wrapped up in a short presentation.

What: Pecha Kucha Night
When: Thursday, 28 May, 20:20h
Where: Unternehmen Mitte, Gerbergasse 30

More info on the official website.

Update: Great event, lots of fun – thanks to all who cheered for me! You can see all the slides I showed in the respective exhibitions page.

Tags: basel, Chernobyl, events, pecha kucha, pechakucha, photography, switzerland

Chernobyl Journal #7: Reactor Island

Sunday, May 24th, 2009 | decay, hdr, project wormwood, travel journal | 2 Comments

This is part seven of my travel photo journal to the Chernobyl zone of exclusion. Check out the Chernobyl Journal page for the full story, all pictures, videos and sounds.

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On the next day we got up at about 07:30, got dressed and had breakfast at the agency. The meal consisted of two courses: First, a plate full of pickled vegetables (along with the same meat from the day before). Second, a big chicken leg with a huge serving of tasteless, overcooked rice, which made me feel like the protagonist in “Everything Is Illuminated”. Half an hour later, we drove off north again.

The first few hours of the day were reserved for the area around the nuclear reactor. The Chernobyl power plant consisted of 6 reactors, two of which were never finished building. Those two (reactors 5 and 6) were located on an artificial island east of the power plant. › Continue reading

Tags: Chernobyl, photography, Pripyat, urban exploration, urbanexploration

Chernobyl Journal #6: Pool & School

Monday, May 18th, 2009 | decay, project wormwood, travel journal, video | No Comments

This is part six of my travel photo journal to the Chernobyl zone of exclusion. Check out the Chernobyl Journal page for the full story, all pictures, videos and sounds.

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We waited for half an hour for Yuriy to come back – he had gone to the security perimeter to report the looters – until we took up Tanya’s offer of quickly going to “school #2″. The school, one of Pripyat’s seven schools, was supposed to be south of Lenin square. We followed her through the woods around old apartment blocks, came across an old electronics store with lots of old TVs, but didn’t find the school. › Continue reading

Tags: abandonments, Chernobyl, hdr, photography, Pripyat, urban exploration, urbanexploration, urbex

Chernobyl Journal #5: Amusement Park, or: Why You Shouldn’t Wander Off Alone

Sunday, May 10th, 2009 | artists, decay, hdr, project wormwood, travel journal, video | 5 Comments

This is part five of my travel photo journal to the Chernobyl zone of exclusion. Check out the Chernobyl Journal page for the full story, all pictures, videos and sounds.

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Because of our group member’s different paces and interests, we were rarely at the same spot at the same time (which helped to keep people out of your pictures). At the Palace of Culture however, we all got together again. And while René and Laura were busy rising a new FC Pripyat from the ashes of the gym, and Beat was still looking for good spots to shoot, I got into a conversation with our guide who was standing in front of the van, waiting for us. › Continue reading

Tags: abandonments, Chernobyl, decay, photography, Pripyat, travel

Chernobyl Journal #4: The Buildings on Lenin Square

Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 | decay, project wormwood, travel journal | 2 Comments

This is part four of my travel photo journal to the Chernobyl zone of exclusion. Check out the Chernobyl Journal page for the full story, all pictures, videos and sounds.

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After letting us get a first impression and pictures of the square, Yuriy showed us the way into one of the old apartment blocks. I must have accidentally wandered into the wrong building, because most of the rooms were empty – almost no furniture and no personal belongings apart from occasional books and papers on the ground. He also warned us not to spend too much time in these blocks, “not for physical danger, but for emotional danger”; as opposed to other areas in the city, I didn’t find the blocks especially depressing or unsettling, as they consisted of mostly empty rooms with similar layouts. › Continue reading

Tags: abandonments, Chernobyl, photography, Pripyat, urban exploration, urbanexploration