Zones of Exclusion: Pripyat and Chernobyl

Culbert, Elizabeth

ISBN 10: 3882439211 / ISBN 13: 9783882439212

Published by Steidl, Gottingen, Germany, 2003

Presumed first printing of the stated first edition, 2003. Printed by Steidl and presumed bound in Germany. Oblong, 12 x 15 inches. Gray buckram hardboards, with block lettering to the spine. Unbumped spine head and tail, and sharp corners. Text block firmly bound in. 109 numbered pages, with numerous full-page, full-color photo-plates. The photos were taken June 6 - 9, 2001. An immensely clean book, inside and out. No demerits observed. Almost certainly unread. With a beautiful, fully illustrated dust jacket. A Fine copy in a Fine DJ. 4 lbs. 3 oz. weight. A powerful book of color photographs taken by Polidori fifteen years after the 1986 nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. Features text by Elizabeth Culbert. Includes numerous images of the towns Pripyat and Chernobyl. Robert Polidori is a Canadian-American photographer known for his large-scale color images of architecture, urban environments and interiors. From the library of Marshall Winokur [1942-2022]. He was a recognized collector of books and postcards on Russia and the Soviet Union. His research on Russian culture and the fate of Russian Orthodox churches, convents and monasteries under the Soviet regime led to numerous publications, fellowships, and talks, and found expression in his collection of over 25,000 postcards depicting life in the Russian Empire, a collection now available at the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division (the Winokur-Munblit collection of the Russian Empire postcards). Seller Inventory # 008073

Synopsis:

In the 11 days following the Chernobyl catastrophe on April 26, 1986, more than 116,000 people were permanently evacuated from the area surrounding the nuclear power plant. Declared unfit for human habitation, the Zones of Exclusion includes the towns of Pripyat (established in the 1970s to house workers) and Chernobyl. In May 2001, Robert Polidori photographed what was left behind in the this dead zone. His richly detailed images move from the burned-out control room of Reactor 4, where technicians staged the experiment that caused the disaster, to the unfinished apartment complexes, ransacked schools and abandoned nurseries that remain as evidence of those who once called Pripyat home. Nearby, trucks and tanks used in the cleanup efforts rest in an auto graveyard, some covered in lead shrouds and others robbed of parts. Houseboats and barges rust in the contaminated waters of the Pripyat River. Foliage grows over the sidewalks and hides the modest homes of Chernobyl. In his large-scale photographs, Polidori captures the faded colors and desolate atmosphere of these two towns, producing haunting documents that present the reader with a rare view of not just a disastrous event, but a place and the people who lived there.

Reviews: The Chernobyl nuclear disaster on April 26, 1984, forced the immediate evacuation of more than 116,000 people from that part of the Ukraine, which was subsequently declared unfit for human habitation. Fifteen years and more than 350,000 evacuations later, photographer Polidori (Havana) returned to shoot vacant apartment blocks, highways, classrooms, and dachas being reclaimed by the forest, and the frightening control rooms themselves. As Polidori writes: "Does any generation have the right to risk the safety of so many future generations?... I felt personally compelled to confront and witness this ongoing tragedy that no ritual can heal." The result is 190 color photos that give this 15" x 11" book a deeply haunting quality.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Zones of Exclusion: Pripyat and Chernobyl
Publisher: Steidl, Gottingen, Germany
Publication Date: 2003
Binding: Hardcover
Illustrator: Polidori, Robert
Condition: Fine
Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
Edition: 1st Edition