ZONES OF EXCLUSION: Pripyat and Chernobyl

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster on April 26, 1984, forced the immediate evacuation of more than 116,000 people from that part of the Ukraine, which was subsequently declared unfit for human habitation. Fifteen years and more than 350,000 evacuations later, photographer Polidori (Havana ) returned to shoot vacant apartment blocks, highways, classrooms, and dachas being reclaimed by the forest, and the frightening control rooms themselves. As Polidori writes: "Does any generation have the right to risk the safety of so many future generations?... I felt personally compelled to confront and witness this ongoing tragedy that no ritual can heal." The result is 190 color photos that give this 15"×11¾" book a deeply haunting quality. (Oct.)