Ambroise Tézenas

Prypiat, Chernobyl exclusion zone. Ukraine

Prypiat is an abandoned city in the zone of exclusion, home to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant workers. The city was abandoned in 1986 following the  disaster. Pripyat was home to 48,000 people and with its communal living blocks, cultural centre and sports stadium, was a model Soviet town. It wasn't evacuated until 36 hours after the disaster: for two days all 48,000 men, women and children went to school, did the washing and relaxed in the town square. Then 1,200 buses were brought up from Kiev and the army forced people to board them. No one was ever allowed back. The Exclusion Zone is now considered relatively safe to visit, and several Ukrainian companies offer guided tours of the area.

Photographs taken in 2008 while working on the project "I was here" and in 2016 on assignement for T&L (USA)