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Chornobyl’s Black Gold August 26, 2010

Posted by bohdan.warchomij in : Chornobyl, Disaster, Documentary, Institute for Artist Management, Photojournalism, Ukraine , add a comment

BLACK GOLD OF CHORNOBYL

Guillaume Herbaut

For someone with a profound interest in Ukrainian issues  it was a revelation  to come across  Guillaume Herbaut’s story on the pillaging of metal from the so called Exclusion Zone of Chornobyl. The story was posted in the blog  of the relatively new Institute for Artist Management and the work details the movement of radioactive metal  from the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant for cash. Each week, more than two hundred tons of radioactive metal  leave the exclusion zone. In the town of Chornobyl there are hotels and workers involved in the legal industry that the protection of the Zone has evolved into.

During the turmoil that followed the explosion of the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986, the authorities  buried  highly contaminated villages, created  burial grounds for tons of radioactive metal and encircled the town of Pripyat with a metal fence to prevent looting.

The reality of the exclusion zone and its precious cargo is different. In 2007, a stock of copper and nickel tubes coming from the Buriakovka burial ground was intercepted outside the exclusion zone. The metals contamination rate was 23 times higher than the legal standards. In May 2009, ten tons of metal disappeared. The radioactivity rate was above 30 000 microRems, a thousand times higher than the authorised level. During the night of September 10th 2009, a shipping of 25 tons of untreated metal was  intercepted by Ukrainian Intelligence Service. It mainly consisted of tubes found in the whereabouts of Reactor 4 and its radioactivity rate was thirteen times higher than the legal level.

According  to Herbaut and Bruno Masi there were 8 million tons of metal in the exclusion zone after the explosion. Today, only two million tons remain and  this stock  is valued at 1 billion hryvnias (100 million euros). It travels via  Eastern Ukrainian factories to Turkey and to China for the ultimate material reward.

http://stories.instituteartistmanagement.com/guillaumeherbaut-black-gold-of-chernobyl.html

Guillaume Herbaut copyright photo of Helicopters used during the Chornobyl disaster
Guillaume Herbaut copyright photo of Helicopters used during the Chornobyl disaster

East Grand Terre Island June 5, 2010

Posted by bohdan.warchomij in : American Photographers, Disaster, Documentary, Photojournalism , add a comment

The tragedy of the BP Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico continues  to impact on the wildlife of the area.

AP Photographer Charlie Riedel’s  images of seabirds caught in the oil slick on a beach on Louisiana’s East Grand Terre Island highlight a tragedy that will redefine the operational methods of oil companies working at depths beyond their technological capabilities. As hurricane season approaches Louisiana the sense of urgency escalates from politicians and BP executives. The results of their endeavours will be analysed and debated, resolved and hopefully curtailed in the light of these heartbreaking images. More images can be seen on the Big Picture.

Photo Copyright Photographer Charlie Riedel AP
Photo Copyright Photographer Charlie Riedel AP

Photo Copyright Photographer Charlie Riedel AP
Photo Copyright Photographer Charlie Riedel AP

James Nachtwey, XDRTB on Burn magazine April 12, 2010

Posted by bohdan.warchomij in : Aid, American Photographers, Disaster, Documentary , add a comment

James Nachtwey

Struggle To Live

http://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2010/01/james-nachtwey-struggle-to-live/

Burn Magazine continues on its innovative exploration of the net with a story by James Nachtwey on XDRTB (Extremely Drug Resistant Tuberculosis),  a photo essay which was  generated by a $100,000 TED Grant, and which has been critically explored in comments by readers of LENS, the New York Times Blog, and by Robert Godden from The Rights Exposure Project (see link).

What the discourse has done has been to draw attention to a terrible disease and at the same time to make photographers aware of their responsibilities to the victims of disease. It is not enough to just bear witness.

http://www.adevelopingstory.org/2010/war-photographer-a-dangerous-idolatry

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/18/behind-37/

Photo James Nachtway
Photo James Nachtwey

A Legacy of Suffering April 5, 2010

Posted by bohdan.warchomij in : Disaster, Documentary, India, Photojournalism , 1 comment so far

A Legacy of Suffering, Bhopal

Thousands of people died 25-years-ago when 40,000 tons of methyl isocyanate (MIC) escaped from the Union Carbide pesticide factory into Bhopal’s night air. Thousands more continue to suffer from the gas effects, and new generations are born with mental and physical deformities not just from their gas-effected parents, but from their families using the highly contaminated ground water. The factory’s toxic waste, which has leached into the soil and water, has never been cleared or decontaminated.

Neither the US giant, DOW Chemical, who now own Union Carbide, nor the Indian government who own the land are taking responsibility for the waste and so the people of Bhopal continue to suffer.

Amiran White is a freelance photojournalist who began her photojournalism career stringing for Associated Press in Oregon USA. She has won a variety of awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, World Press, Associated Press, National Press Photographer’s Association, and Editor and Publisher. She has also earned the Community Awareness Award from the 60th Photographer of the Year International Awards and the 2003 Golden Light Award for her documentary work. Recently she collected a first prize in the 2009  Sony World Photography Awards.  She is a contract photographer for Zuma Press.

Her powerful body of work on the Bhopal tragedy can be seen on her website.

www.amiranphoto.com

Faizan is bathed in contaminated ground water Photo Amiran White
Faizan is bathed in contaminated ground water Photo Amiran White

Curico Earthquake March 9, 2010

Posted by bohdan.warchomij in : Aftermath, Chile, Disaster, Photojournalism, Relief , add a comment

Jessica Phelps is a young photographer from Ohio currently working in a community center in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Santiago, Chile. She has contributed to Metaphor Online from Haiti and contributes  her images from a devastated Curico.

Here are her words from Santiago and Curico:

“3.30am Friday morning in Santiago and I was in a deep sleep. I woke up slowly to the sensation of my bed shaking. It wasn’t until I heard my roommate yelling my name that I understood what was happening. I jumped out of bed and ran to the hallway to see Gonzalo motioning me to come to him.We stood under his door frame hugging, terrified as the earthquake intensified; we were being shaken violently for an eternal three minutes. He kept reassuring me we would be all right. When everything was still again we rushed to get dressed and ran down the six flights of stairs to the park outside. And there we waited in complete darkness for the morning light to come along with information of what had happened.
I was shocked when I learned how strong the earthquake was and even more surprised to walk around Santiago and see almost everything still standing. As the weekend progressed and news came out about the damage further south I knew I had to go to see for myself. Accompanied by my camera I went to a small town called Curico. There had been many reports of looting but here I found the people beginning to organize their lives.Listening to their stories was heartbreaking. The family whose home had been destroyed and were now sleeping in a bus at night too afraid to sleep in the remains of their house. The parents who had lost their infant child.

But more impressive was the amount of donations collected by this town andbeing sorted by its residents to be passed out to those left with nothing.Everyone in this town was helping to clear away rubble and start the process of rebuilding. They were told that temporary houses would be built outside the center of town by the government while they awaited their new homes, but many there do not have confidence that this will happen and are more comfortable relying on neighbors
This town still had no electricity, no T.V., no communication outside itselfand only one radio station near the center of town was still in operation.
I left Curico with mixed feelings. Heartbroken at the amount of devastation, but also inspired to see this town pulling together,  neighbors helping neighbors.”

CURICO, Chile –Curicó (kūrēkō’), “Black Waters” in Mapudungun, originally meaning “Land of Black Water”, is the name of the capital of Curicó Province, part of the Region del Maule in Chile’s central valley. The 8.8 richter scale earthquake has devastated the city. The worst-hit area of Curico, founded in 1743 and situated in a picturesque fruit- and wine-producing area, has been its  historic quarter.

The 18th-century San Francisco Church lies in ruins alongside ruined 19th-century homes as well as the 100-year-old building that once housed the city’s La Prensa newspaper.

Wheelchair, Curico. Photo Jessica Phelps
Wheelchair, Curico. Photo Jessica Phelps

Crushed car Curico Chile Photo Jessica Phelps
Crushed car Curico Chile Photo Jessica Phelps

Firefighters and Military in Curico Photo Jessica Phelps
Firefighters and Military in Curico Photo Jessica Phelps