The year 2016 marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster where three decades ago explosions and fire at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Pripyat, Ukraine, brought devastation resulting in mass evacuation and radioactive matter being spread across much of Europe.To commemorate the event, Singapore’s The Private Museum and French-born, Singapore-based photographer Christophe Malcot have collaborated on “Chernobyl Today,” an exhibition of Malcot’s photos taken in 2015 in Pripyat.On April 26, the day of the 30th anniversary of the nuclear leak disaster, ARTINFO spoke to Malcot about the exhibition and his experiences photographing a nuclear ghost town. Excerpts:What is it that draws you to Chernobyl as a subject matter?When I was a kid, during the Cold War, “1984” by George Orwell was required reading. And I like architecture. Put the two together and the ex-Soviet Union becomes a treasure trove of larger-than-life hubristic and propagandist monuments and buildings, some of whose excesses can be extremely photogenic. The Duga-1 early-warning radar system (featured in the exhibition) is one such amazing structure. Beyond this, I am sensitive to the dichotomy of degeneration and regeneration. And so the fact that nature after the Chernobyl disaster has been able not just to adapt but to flourish again, made the subject much more compelling.Where were you and what were you doing when you first heard of the catastrophe at Chernobyl?I was a student in France. Our government famously tried to reassure the population by demonstrating with the help of scientists and weather reports that the nuclear cloud had stopped at the border. It felt like a (bad) joke but when you are 20, you feel invincible. And so I remember not being unduly worried; and totally unprepared.What was it like visiting Pripyat to take these photos?You cannot go to Chernobyl without preconceptions: Nuclear catastrophe, ghost city, Soviet era... My first impression though was totally unexpected: Being virtually alone in Pripyat, surrounded by unkempt vegetation, immediately brought the temples of Angkor Wat to my mind. I felt like a modern-day Henri Mouhot (the French explorer who rediscovered the temples of Angkor). I spent three days in Angkor in 1994 when live minefields and the Khmer Rouge’s low-intensity guerrilla war kept visitors away. Then, 50 visitors would have been a busy day. The vegetation had again taken the upper hand and the temples were more hidden and more mysterious than they are today. Pripyat was Angkor Wat Soviet-style. The heaviness was gone.Why did you chose to photograph the site in black and white?Both conceptually and visually, Chernobyl is a subject that I believe lends itself naturally to black and white, so I was already inclined to shoot in it before heading there. It was the end of May and I was actually worried about the weather, as I did not want to shoot under bright blue skies. Luckily, when I arrived it was pretty overcast, which brought out interesting shades of gray. The other important factor is that the dominant colors in Chernobyl are white, gray, brown and green. I immediately felt vindicated shooting in black and white as I was really not losing much color-wise.What do you hope people learn from seeing your photographs?I think that behind these photos of ruins and decay, there is a double message: one of humility and one of revival. The trees, plants and animals overtaking the city are proof that life ultimately wins. However bad or desperate a situation may look, there is hope. But Pripyat is also a clear reminder that man cannot play the sorcerer’s apprentice at will. As in Fukushima, we were lucky, it could have been much worse. As the world is slowly awakening to the dreadful reality of climate change, I think these photos are also a reminder of our fragility. Last but not least, everybody should remember that life is short; Pripyat was 16 years old when she was evacuated and died, so make the most of it! Live your dreams!“Chernobyl Today” runs May 5-May 31 at Artspace@222, Singapore
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