︎ Sheffield, UK
Joe Burrows
Joe Burrows is a documentary photographer and visual researcher with an interest in the nuclear anthropocene and recent graduate of MA Research Architecture at Goldsmiths, University of London. His practice utilises open-source intelligence, archives, alternative photography and deep research practices to visualise the post-atomic era and the power structures and technologies that enabled and perpetuate it.
Open to commissions and interesting opportunities.
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Stalkers
(2019)
︎︎︎ Nuclear Cultures
︎︎︎ Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
A visual record of an illegal expedition into the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.
I joined a handful of Stalkers, young Ukrainians who trespass in The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, for a week in a radioactive hinterland.
Contaminated by the world’s worst nuclear disaster, 2,600 square kilometres of farmland, forests and settlements in northern Ukraine have been evacuated and are now protected by rings of barbed wire and armed patrols. Radioactive fallout from fabled Reactor Number 4 soaked into the trees and will remain in the soil for generations. Habitation is forbidden and access strictly controlled, unless you know a way in.
Hiking dozens of kilometres a day through uncharted forests and sleeping rough in crumbling buildings, the threat posed by radiation rarely crosses the Stalker’s mind. While finding hearty food, dry shelter and uncontaminated water are more pressing concerns, capture remains the biggest threat. Stalkers must rely on cunning, instinct and their trusted networks to tame nature and stay one step ahead of the police.
Contaminated by the world’s worst nuclear disaster, 2,600 square kilometres of farmland, forests and settlements in northern Ukraine have been evacuated and are now protected by rings of barbed wire and armed patrols. Radioactive fallout from fabled Reactor Number 4 soaked into the trees and will remain in the soil for generations. Habitation is forbidden and access strictly controlled, unless you know a way in.
Hiking dozens of kilometres a day through uncharted forests and sleeping rough in crumbling buildings, the threat posed by radiation rarely crosses the Stalker’s mind. While finding hearty food, dry shelter and uncontaminated water are more pressing concerns, capture remains the biggest threat. Stalkers must rely on cunning, instinct and their trusted networks to tame nature and stay one step ahead of the police.
