Seeing Chernobyl
We live in a time that privileges the immediacy of the present, and tends to let go of the past pretty quickly. But this morning I visited a place -- on the web -- that brought back a whole host of memories, and also introduced me to images I've never seen or thought about before. It's a site that is a loosely strung together
set of photos (with accompanying commentary) taken in current day Chernobyl by a young woman who has access to the site through her nuclear physicist father. She's also a motorcyclist who loves to ride full throttle --and the ghost town which is now Chernobyl gives her room to do that. When I think of ghost towns, I usually think of old towns in the west, from long ago and far way, towns that have receded into cultural myth. This is a ghost town of recent creation, and it is a stark testament to the enormous danger we still live in, in a world that uses nuclear power so blithely, and in which terrorists increasingly have access to nuclear weapons. We need to visit this site, and pray for peace and environmental recovery!
Posted by hessma at March 28, 2004 09:13 AM