Exhibitions » May 2011

May 1 - May 31 (continued from April 21st), reception Saturday, May 14, 5 - 8pm: Volatile Particles. 25 years after Chernobyl: MATHEW MERRETT and OLENA SULLIVAN (a CONTACT Photography 2011 Festival participant).

"VOLATILE PARTICLES refers to the contaminants that were released into the air from the Chernobyl reactor meltdown, half of these landing outside the immediate area and affecting regions as far as the United Kingdom". (Volatile Particles: A Photographic Journey Through Chernobyl's Exclusion Zone by Olena Sullivan)

Back in 2008, two urban exploration photographers came together with an idea for a project that would take them to the irradiated landscape of Chernobyl's Exclusion Zone and the ghost city of Prypyat. The goal was to explore the Chernobyl disaster through photography, the personal accounts of their journey, and stories from those who reside in the local area today.

The exhibition documents Chernobyl 25 years after the nuclear disaster while the world watches another unfold. Volatile Particles contrasts man’s impact on the environment with nature’s resilience. The photographs blend images of normality (the ghosts of the past) superimposed on post-Chernobyl devastation and infestation (the present-day stark reality amid the afterlife of the Exclusion Zone). Poignant, moving and relevant – this is a timely introspection addressing our ever-evolving nuclear depression.