Where did the time go?

It's amazing how fast time flies. In just 3 days we'll be installing the CONTACT Photography Show at Bezpala Brown Gallery that has come out of this 2 year adventure!

Just in case you were interested in seeing just how big the locations were that we visited, here's a map of the Chornobyl reactor and area - anything with labels indicating where we were allowed to go and to shoot.

Get Into The Zone

For those who don't know about Chernobyl's Alienation Zone, here's the quick and dirty version of where we're aiming to go for our photography excursion:

ZONE OF ALIENATION
The Zone was established after the disaster in 1986 in order to evacuate the local population and prevent people from entering the contaminated area. It is made up of 4 concentric circular zones with the closest in, about 30km from the site, being the most contaminated. Within the zones are hot spots of radiation where equipment has been buried and many of these remain unmapped - some committed to memory and some unknown. Authorities try to protect these spots not only from tourists but scrap hunters as well.

The Zone operates within its own civil rules, with its own police (the MVS) and State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, all administered by the Administration of the Alienation Zone. These branches work together to police the shift workers who come in to the nuclear site, tourists, visiting officials and dignitaries, and interlopers.

Interesting Facts

• The cloud of heavily polluted radioactive dust produced the Red Forest - a strand of highly-irradiated pine near the plant.
• Many species of wildlife have flourished due to the significant reduction of human impact - wolves, wild boar, red deer, moose, and beaver.
• Przewalski's Horses - a rare and endangered subspecies of wild horse native to the steppes of Central Asia - which were released in the area after the disaster are flourishing.
• Brown bear, which has not been seen in the area for several decades, has been reported as well as wild lynx.
• There are 800 known burial grounds for irradiated vehicles, hundreds of abandoned military vehicles & helicopters, and river ships and barges lie in the abandoned ports.

(photo: Entrance to Alienation Zone, Slawojar, Wikimedia Commons)
(With information from Wikipedia page Zone of Alienation)

Chernobylzone

After several weeks of back and forth emails with a contact in Ukraine, we've sent off our info to book a two day private tour of Chernobyl and Pripyat. The company is Chernobylzone - Journeys Into Chernobyl Alienation Area. It's been interesting communicating through email as their English is pretty good, but obviously not their mother tongue. Of course, I can always get additional information from their website - after I learn Russian. I speak/read Ukrainian so I can make out some of it, but it's not quite the same.

There's some additional items we could have for the tour (for a fee of course) and we thought it would be geeky/cool to have the dosimeters but I had to email them to explain the "IPE" gear. Turns out it's a slimming all-white one-piece outfit complete with hood for you to wear while exploring around the radiated area. The ultimate in geek chic. I wasn't going to go for it until I read the part about having to throw out the clothes you wear on the tour if you happen to get any soil/debris/etc. on them. IPE gear it is then.

Looking forward to seeing exactly what type of hotel we'll be staying at outside of the alienation zone overnight. Apparently it's nothing fancy but the only one in the area. For me, the chance to interact with the people who have lived in the area, within the shadow of the reactor and its effects, and to see how the area has changed in the 20+ years since the disaster more than makes up for a lumpy bed.

Fingers crossed that our dates get approved for the tour.