Chernobyl as you’ve never seen it before

These stunning images capture the eerie beauty of a ghost town in the Chernobyl exclusion zone like never before.

Vladimir Migutin, who specialises in infrared photography, travelled to Pripyat – a city in the Ukraine that once housed the families of thousands of men and women who worked at the nearby Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

It’s now a UNESCO World Heritage Site after the world’s most catastrophic nuclear disaster, which released at least 100 times more radiation than the atom bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, on April 26, 1986.

At least 31 people died in the days after the accident, although the long-term impact of the radiation is harder to quantify – and at least 130,000 people were moved out of a 30km zone around Chernobyl in the months following.

But decades after the fallout, Mr Migutin found that while men continue to stay away – animals and plants are thriving.

So over the course of a two-day trip a few years ago, he took pictures, using a full spectrum camera and a 590-nm infrared filter from Kolari Vision, of everything from wild foxes to abandoned amusement parks.

‘We always hear praises of the might of Mother Nature, how it renders useless mans’ creations, and bears life above the ruins,’ Mr Migutin said.

‘Well, it’s something that is always felt, but never on such a huge scale. This place IS the place for these contrasts.’

He added: ‘It’s pretty hard to describe the overall atmosphere I experienced during this trip.

‘Despite the events of 1986, the ruins, and the rust, I didn’t have grim feelings while traveling there. On the contrary, it felt like I was in a ‘kind of’ paradise on a different planet.’



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