Photo Book
THE LONG SHADOW OF CHERNOBYL
A Retrospective Photo Book by Gerd Ludwig
Captivating images of National Geographic photographer Gerd Ludwig’s nine visits to Chernobyl in 20 years tell us tragic stories of the life of the victims, the Exclusion Zone and the abandoned city of Pripyat. Ludwig ventured deeper into the belly of the beast than any Western photographer, repeatedly documenting the destroyed rector #4, which will disappear under a New Safe Confinement for at least 100 years. Bordering the site of the worst nuclear disaster to date, the abandoned city of Pripyat might face a similar destiny as authorities decide what to do with it.
“As engaged photographers,” says Ludwig, “we often report about human tragedies in the face of disaster, and take our cameras to uncharted areas with the understanding that our explorations are not without personal risk. We do this out of a deep commitment to important stories told on behalf of otherwise voiceless victims.” An essay by Mikhail Gorbachev, the last head of state of the Soviet Union, accompanies Gerd Ludwig’s emotional visual narrative. This book is an important body of documentary work in view of the ongoing nuclear disaster in Fukushima 25 years later.
- Hardcover with a slipcase, 11×12 inches
- 118Â photographs on 252 pages
- Trilingual in English, German, and French
- Essay by Mikhail Gorbachev
- Quotes from Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich
- Divided into 4 chapters: Victims, Pripyat, The Zone, and Reactor #4
- Redacted CIA documents, a map, and additional resources
- Published by Edition Lammerhuber in Vienna, Austria