I’ve seen a number of images of Pripyat, the city that was summarily abandoned after Chernobyl, but this one takes the cake. I love the starkness and contrast of black and white.
What is Pripyat?
Pripyat was a planned town and a factory town. It was an artificial town that was built from scratch in 1970 for Chernobyl Nuclear Power plant workers.
Where is Pripyat?
Pripyat is located in northern Ukraine. Pripyat was located about 3 km from the plant.
How Many People Lived in Pripyat?
About 50,000 people lived in Pripyat before the Chernobyl accident in 1986.
Is It Safe To Visit Pripyat?
This is debatable. In 1999, Tim Mousseau, Professor of Biological Sciences from the University of South Carolina, made one of the first visits to Pripyat to study the effects of the disaster on the area’s wildlife. The site appears safe to visit, but ingesting wildlife and plants from the area is not advisable.
Why is Pripyat Considered an Apocalyptic or Ballardian Landscape?
Modern-day apocalypse stories focus on urban spaces that are largely intact: quickly depopulated and left to nature’s decay. Because of the grave nature of the Chernobyl accident, Pripyat emptied out fast, residents leaving behind everything.
Pripyat Ferris Wheel
Is there image more forlorn and ready-made for Hollywood than that of an abandoned ferris wheel in a nuclear-stricken city?
