A Polish photographer and filmmaker, Arkadiusz Podniesiński has been continuously documenting the effects of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster since 2008 and those of the Fukushima disaster since 2015. The photographer focuses on the ongoing problems associated with the radioactive contamination of the environment and the progressive disintegration of the deserted towns and buildings, as well as presenting the tragedy of the hundreds of thousands of evacuated residents — the silent victims of nuclear disaster.
Arkadiusz wrote: “It’s been nearly 10 years since I first visited the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. It was a great experience for me. I could finally see the place I’d previously only known from books and TV and the tart taste of the Lugol’s iodine I had to drink a few days after the disaster. After many visits to the plant, I was finally even allowed to enter the damaged Reactor 4 and see the notorious control room. It was here that the failed experiment resulting in the reactor exploding and the uncontrolled emission into the atmosphere of terabecquerels of radioactive isotopes was conducted. A decade ago, obtaining the necessary permits to see the epicenter of the events of April 1986 was extremely arduous and complicated. Today, this place is a must-see on most tourist excursions.
“Today I return once again to the plant. (…) The reason for my regular visits remains the same: the desire to document the changes taking place in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. And there’s been quite a few: from the construction of the New Safe Confinement, to the construction of several new industrial facilities that will make the decommissioning of the plant, including the damaged Reactor 4, possible and much safer. I hope that, under the influence of slow but systematic changes, eventually Chernobyl will not only be known as the site of the largest nuclear disaster in the world.”
Arkadiusz Podniesiński also published the photo album HALF-LIFE: From Chernobyl to Fukushima (2018) with photos and essays on the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters.