Martin Parrs Think of England - Essay Example

LEGACY John Darwell is an independent photographer who has worked with some of the finest museums, galleries, and s in the world exploring subject matter such as environmental concerns, social and industrial change, and, just recently, mental health. His work has been received and viewed by national and international audiences, and has earned him the respect of his peers, well deserved of an award winning, published artist. Legacy, his 2001 publication, is the final leg of a trilogy of work based on nuclear energy and its consequences. In Legacy, Darwell takes a visual exploration into the aftermath of the Chernobyl Power Plant explosion that occurred on April 28, 1986. Residents and workers in the areas surrounding the Chernobyl Power Plant were exposed to radiation levels one hundred times higher than the Hiroshima Bomb. At the publication date of Legacy, and still today in 2009, Chernobyls menacing results are still very evident. Darwells photographs ultimately offer a thoughtful and skilled presentation of a series of polarities: the visible effects of the invisible radiation; the simultaneous presence and absence of humanity; the past and the future of the Chernobyl area. It will be thousands of years before the decaying isotopes will allow safe habitation. The inside cover of Legacy is made up of dark grey letters on light grey paper with an alphabetic SPREAD of words, such as Atom Bomb, Beryllium, Black Rain, Cancer, and Chernobyl (depicted in white). The list ends with the words The Nuclear Age, also in white. Darwell’s choice of colors, or better yet, lack of color, allows the important words to jump off the page as the reader opens the book. Turning the page, the end paper reads; LEGACY - photographs inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, and offer a kind of warning or foreshadowing of what is to come in the following pages. This definitely sets a tone for the book, and creates a mood before the pictorial tour begins. Chernobyl Power Plant Elegantly stretching it’s metal spires upwards to the sky, the Chernobyl Power Plant towers appear graceful and architectural, like latticed works of sculpture. Set against a violet sky, its black silhouette resembles the framework of an erecting cathedral. During the race to harness nuclear energy, these towers were considered to be visions of progress and hope for the future. Darwell’s photographic distance from the subject succeeds in juxtaposing its skeletal beauty against its cataclysmic destructive force. How ironic that a structure that caused so much death and devastation would soon be entombed, first, in its own concrete sarcophagus, and then encased in steel. The beauty of those spires serve to warn us that the heavens may not be ours for the taking, and to attempt to do so exacts a price too heavy for anyone’s conscience. This photograph is the first that appears inside of Darwell’s book. The book places strong emphasis on the image itself by placing the photograph on the left, and the book’s text on the right side. The text describes a world of greenery, abandoned due to radiation saturation; debris too contaminated to remove. * * * Aptly described as a ghost town, the entrance to the 30K no zone area established by the Ukrainian government reeks of foreboding. Darwell reinforces this feeling by capturing a signpost whose watery reflection creates a crucifix in a large foreground puddle. We would almost feel better if the doors and windows of these buildings were all nailed and boarded up; but the fact that they were left open, bare, and accessible lends itself to the disturbing acknowledgement of the immediacy of the tragedy that took place here. 30K Entry Point. * * * Even in the aftermath of tragedy, that which stands still will eventually be overtaken by the elements and by nature herself. The stillness of the truck abandoned in Rassohka serves as a painful reminder of and memorial to all of those brave people who rushed in, after the initial explosions, to help as many people as possible during the evacuation, only to lose their own lives weeks later from radiation exposure. Ever-encroaching rust on the red truck serves to represent the invisible radioactive threat that will continue to eat away at what has been left behind, until nothing is left. Rassohka. Abandoned Vehicle. * * * Karagod Abandoned. Decades later nature proves her strength and resilience and returns to reclaim her place. Little by little, as nature rebounds, there will scarcely be any sign that humans were there at all. This photograph is simple, and yet provocative, because it is a photograph of a true moment of time. There was no set up required, or placement of objects, or special lighting. Darwell captured the precise message that nature had to offer. At the center of the photograph sets a structure, once erect and sturdy, that now continuously droops and sags as it gives in to the elements. Darwell’s placement of the Karagod photographs is designed to show the effects of exterior and interior abandonment. * * * Karagod. Karagod 2. Inside an abandoned house in Karagod, Darwells photographs capture objects of a happier time, made evident by bright florals, smiling faces, and coloured jars, now residing as a mass heap of rubbish on the floor, and hung across a line, never to be rescued. The photographs make up a collage of some persons good life, frozen in a time lock as a reminder of what will never again be. The positions of the objects on the floor serve to remind the viewer of how precious and how fleeting our lives really are. This is especially depicted in the huge rip that runs down the photograph of a laughing girl, obviously unaware of how quickly smiles can be torn away forever. The reader’s point of view in the Karagod photographs is one of a participant. For the interior pictures, Darwell places us in the middle of the room, as if we are only a few feet away from the debris, and with little effort could reach out and touch it. * * * * * Illegal Settlers - Opachichi. In an attempt to carry on, several people return to an abandoned village in Opachichi to live the only lifestyle they have ever known. Although the brightly coloured clothing and lush green grass give a sense of things returning to the way they were, the photograph also captures the lifeless expressions on the faces of those with nowhere else to go. Darwells capture of colour is momentarily deceptive to the viewing eye that would normally equate such vibrancy with liveliness, yet no can not help but notice the lack of sunshine in any of these peoples lives or futures. Again, Darwell has made the reader very present in the photograph of the three women. We can tell this by the expression on their faces, as if we have just walked in an come upon them. They were perhaps, resting and talking amongst themselves when we came in. We are not only observers here, we are close enough to speak. We are, in a sense, with them in this place. * * * Nicholai and Anastasia. Darwell’s presentation of a senior couple who returned to live in their Opachichi Village after the explosion raises evocative questions about the frailty of old age, the fortitude of the human spirit, and the sense of belonging. With their lives culminated behind them, they sit united, looking out at us, addressing our eyes with their eyes. We can see that they are confident in their decision of returning to their homeland. We wonder what they have seen over the years, and what they had been through prior to the explosion that gave them the stamina required to survive. We look at the strength and the determination that blankets their faces, and try to imagine ourselves at their age. We wonder…what would we do? Darwell places us at even eye level with the couple, telling the readers that we are, in fact, in their home, sitting, and chatting with them. They are not looking up at us, they are looking out at us. * * * Buryakovka Landfill. At first glance, one could imagine that Darwell has captured what appears to be a healthy recovery of livelihood and of nature restoring herself, yet the few traces of colour under a turquoise sky seem only ominous when presented with human beings wearing masks. Although it is twenty-three years later, radioactive material is still found in the soil and in sources such as plant and animal life, which, in turn, find their way into the food sources consumed by children and others. Once a thriving land, most of this land has been turned into a radioactive, toxic waste dump. The economic consequences include unusable land, water, and immediate air space, as well as detrimental effects to green life, loss of raw materials, and long-term pollution of micro ecosystems. From a photograph that momentarily projects a feeling of hope and recovery, exists a reality of radioactive contamination, disease and eminent death. * * * The glossy paper that Darwell chose gives an immediate clarity to the photographs, and intensifies their meaning. The photographs themselves are sometimes placed side by side in the book, also to draw emphasis to their meaning. In the book, we see this with the children’s cinema and the Chernobyl Harbour---two structures caving in on themselves. At other times, photographs stand alone, in instances of contamination, abandonment, tragedy, and danger. The dirty blond doll that resides on the book’s cover is one such image. Pripyat is another. Pripyat - the worlds most radioactive city. The luscious green trees and bushes deceptively make the city of Pripyat appear inviting and thriving. One can easily imagine all of the activity that took place in those thousands of windows; windows housing families - men, women, children - all going about their daily business and lives, like other city dwellers in the world. It is easy to identify with this structure because it is contemporary; it could, in fact, be a neighboring building on our block, or perhaps, a building similar to our very own. There is nothing to suggest that this tragedy of obliteration could never happen to us, and there enters the unsettling reality surrounding the mishaps of humankind. We then take particular notice of the empty streets and walks, and of the grey ghost image of the Chernobyl Power Plant in the far background. A ghost with the haunting reminder of just how indiscriminant tragedy really is. * * * Pripyat Hotel. The Polissya Hotel used to stand in grandeur in the city of Pripyat. A towering white structure surrounded by perfectly coifed flowers and shrubbery and trees. Darwell’s photograph of the hotel, after the Chernobyl accident, makes us appreciate how temporary are the joys of life, and how fleeting are the moments. Even in its state of rubble and debris, it is not all that difficult to imagine scores of people making their way through the spacious interior of this hotel, hailed as one of Pripyat’s modern, new age wonders. Again we find another window open to the elements, as if someone momentarily stepped away and would soon be returning. Of course no one did, not for years, and the only life that this modern structure receives now are occasional tourists and researchers who come to gather information of some kind, and then leave. The photograph accurately depicts how everything from before has dried up in the wake of the Chernobyl accident, and in its place springs radioactive greenery and moss, and the ever-lingering sigh of radioactive breezes. * * * Pripyat Fun Fair. Mounted against a backdrop of intricate patterns, the still fair rides give the impression that crowds of children flooded the area just moments ago. Inanimate objects with life. As bright as the sky above appears to be, the motionless rides all dwell in shadows and subdued lighting, giving the inanimate objects a sort of murky, spectral life of their own; or perhaps a recorded life…a haunting of a life that was once overflowing with happy children. Presented with such results, one cannot help but question the motives behind our human endeavors. How much are we willing to risk to forge ahead in our quest for convenient forms of energy? What convenience! * * * Kindergarten. Kindergarten. What comes to mind? Children who represent the future, hope, and better tomorrows. Kindergarten. A bridge to kinder, gentler, wiser generations to come. The joy of watching children engage, pretend, jump, play, and dream. Our thoughts, however, are immediately brought to halt from the stark reality behind Darwells photograph. We are compelled to look on at all that was good and positive, lay broken, crushed, and abandoned, covered and encrusted in dirt and debris of human tragedy; and as we examine the results of our efforts to build and control a nuclear world, perhaps we are finally moved to seriously question our motives and truthfully ask if it is all worth it. * * * Kindergarten2. One picture of a little blond doll soiled in dirt, staring off into nowhere is the only image required to remind us, the viewing audience, of how long term and generational the radioactive fallout can be. It is also the image that rightfully reminds us that we can never forget this tragedy, the lives it claimed, or the lives it is still claiming. Years after the event, children are still being born with horrific birth defects, deformities, and abnormalities. One looks at this photograph of the kindergarten doll, and cannot help but wonder, were she real, what would there be for her to briefly gaze at. * * * Legacy, for all of its efforts, offers only a peripheral glimpse into the aftermath of the worst nuclear tragedy in history. The entire world was affected by this disaster, and it deserves a more in-depth and closer look. As poignant as Darwell’s photographs are, the messages they convey could have been made stronger by portraying before and after photographs of the chosen subjects. And while doing so would have meant publishing before photographs taken by other photographers, the effort would have really driven home the idea of just how much was lost in the past two decades. What Legacy does succeed at is keeping the subject of Chernobyl at the forefront of conversation and discussion for future generations. Darwell photographs are all framed with wide, white borders around them, but not too wide as to totally alienate the reader’s emotions from the image. We never feel detached; in fact, in several of the images, we are part of the photograph. The Chernobyl incident is usually depicted as a tragic accident, but books such as Legacy and others that have been published before and since, have helped to shed light on the political and industrial back stories that led up to the event, and revelations about it since. When we look at Darwell’s photographs, we are confronted with just how fragile human beings are. We are also reminded of just how destructive and devastating the human greed factor and unchecked ambition can be to millions of people around the world. We come to understand, hopefully, that we cannot afford another such incident. Chernobyl can never happen again, and this important message is made clear by the fact that the only full bleed photograph in Legacy, is the front cover image of the dirty blond doll * * * Stechanka Cemetery. Darwell’s colorful photograph of Stechanka Cemetery reminds us that at the end of the day, death is the ultimate equalizer, and we will all be laid to rest. We are reminded of how those of us fortunate enough to have someone to mourn remember our loved ones for the times and ways in which they touched our lives and the lives of others. We adorn their gravesites with candles, jewel toned flowers, and prayers, often in a desperate attempt to reconnect with what has been lost. “If only...if only”, we think to ourselves, realizing just how precious our time here really is, and how much of it is wasted on the pursuit of the superficial. “If only…if only” we think over and over, willing, at that moment, to do anything, give anything for that chance to go back and do “that thing”... that did not get done, or did not get said. We are reminded that we all share one Earth, are on one journey, and we are reminded of our own fragility and that of others, and of the ephemeral light of this thing we call life. * * * The last photograph appears on the back cover. It is the 10 k Burykovka landfill. It repeats the opening description of a lush green area abandoned due to nuclear fallout, and reemphasizes the gravity of the results of the worst nuclear tragedy in the world. To the reader, it is, without a doubt, Darwell’s final warning. * * * * * Darwell, John Legacy; Dewi Lewis Publications; 2001 Read More