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)

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Here I am, and here we go! Almost a year ago, Olena and I had a chat at an art opening about Chernobyl and how we should go. A few meetings later, and a well written grant application, we are almost on our way! I have generally had a crazy year and have had very little time to prepare for this trip, but we do have a good framework for our itinerary and lots of room for spontaneity.

What has mostly been on my mind lately has been what to pack! Which lenses? How much clothes? Laptop? rolling luggage or backpack? Pepperettes?

I will probably try out a few different combinations and see what works best.

Right now though, I have a week at a cottage to pack for, and when I get back from that, we will be about 5 days from leaving!

First post, done!

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.

Welcome to the panic room

So we finally got around to putting together our blog - 3 weeks before we leave for Ukraine. I guess introductions are in order and an explanation of why we're embarking on this journey.

I'll let Photomat introduce himself - me, I'm a photographer with a graphic design background. The focus of my photography is forgotten spaces and I have been interested in shooting Chernobyl and Pripyat for quite a while. I've seen the books (Polidori), the exhibits (again Polidori comes to mind), and some great documentaries with exceptional photographs from organizations such as National Geographic. I'm not a documentary style photographer and have wanted to interpret this area in my own style.

Our project is called Volatile Particles - inspired by an article examining the effects of the Chernobyl disaster upon the local area and more widely across the world. It refers to the contaminants that were released into the air from the meltdown and the fact that half of these landed outside the immediate area, some affecting regions as far as the UK. The exhibit will explore the Chernobyl disaster through photography, documentary video, and personal stories of survivors and those who reside in the local area today. By examining the disaster through resident's voices, the aim is to personalize the photography and experience for the viewer. In the end, our exhibit will combine photography, documentary video, personal stories (hopefully), and be juxtaposed with our increasing dependence on the nuclear industry and how we are working to ensure that this type of disaster does not happen on Canadian soil. All thanks in part to the Ontario Arts Council.

And of course, we will have a wild (mis)adventure exploring Ukraine - from Kyiv in the North, to Odessa in the South, and Lviv in the West. So where are we now?

• plane tickets - check
• Chernobyl tour booked - check
• place to stay - check
• itinerary finalized - well, mostly
• have what I need - kinda

Stay tuned for posts of our journey - planning, travel, touring, and final exhibit. Dobranich!