It is hard to take good photographs in hazmat gear, but in 1986 Oleksandr Salmygin had no choice. After the April 26 nuclear explosion, taking hazardous-materials protective clothing off near Chornobyl meant sure death. Salmygin was one of the photographers documenting the aftermath of the world’s biggest industrial nuclear accident at the fourth reactor of the now-closed Chornobyl nuclear power plant. His photos depicted the life of the nearby town of Prypyat, where workers lived, as well as people fleeing the exclusion zone at the order of the Communist Party. The 30 square kilometer zone has remained a wildlife area ever since. Salmygin says that he has taken pictures of the Chornobyl power plant since 1971, when its first reactor was built, and knows the area intimately. Incidentally, on the day of the tragedy he arrived to Prypyat and shot non-stop for Pravda Severa newspaper, where he worked at the time. Later he donated many of his photos to the “Chronicles of Difficult Weeks” documentary project, where he also worked. When the government committee for dealing with the aftermath of disaster opened an information unit in Chornobyl, he volunteered to be the staff photographer. “I never hesitated. For more than 10 years I was an official photo-chronicler of Chornobyl,” he says with a smile and without any trace of regret. By Daryna Shevchenko Photos by Oleksandr Salmygin, Chornobyl photographer
