Mathew Merrett has always been interested in architectural photography. He is one of the six photographers to form the photography collective called DK Photo Group. These photographers take pictures of decrepit buildings and turn them into art.
Website: http://www.thephotomat.ca/#home/
Website: http://www.thephotomat.ca/#home/
Pripyat
The city of Pripyat is well-known for the disaster of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986, as it was the city in closest proximity with the plant. Hence, it was subjected to the highest amount of radiation. Many people are still suffering from the aftermath of the disaster, with survivors, who were subjected to a huge amount of radiation, still suffering from the effects. This has also spread to their children, who suffer from various deformities. Hence,these photos serve as a reminder of the incident, depicting the now decrepit ruins of a once-thriving city.
The first photo demonstrates the meaning of ghost town. It shows an empty hallway, doors wide open. The light at the end of the hallway is bright, impossible to see past. This gives the rest of the building a sense of darkness. The hallway was once populated with people, walking in and out of doors. Now left wide open, possibly due to the sudden evacuation, these doors now welcome only the elements past its frame.
The second photo shows an empty theatre, fallen into disrepair with bricks around the seats and the screen torn. There are only two sources of light shining into the cinema, which gives the building a more abandoned ambience due to the lack of artificial light sources. During what little free time the citizens had under the Communist regime, they would spend time in recreational centres like this. Facilities like this used to be packed with people watching films in an attempt to rest from the hard work they were subjected to under the regime. The evacuation of Pripyat left the cinema to crack and crumble like what it is now.
The third photo shows a multitude of gas masks and tubes sprawled across the rubble-filled floor. There is a bluish tint to the gas masks on the right, implying that the is a lack of light shining upon that part. This creates a more aged feel to the gas masks. These gas masks were issued shortly after the disaster when the city was beginning to feel the effects of radiation. Hospital beds were full, and many people passed on prior to the issue of the gas masks. These gas masks being sprawled all over the floor shows that the people who once lived here are now gone, never to return to this radioactive hell.
The first photo demonstrates the meaning of ghost town. It shows an empty hallway, doors wide open. The light at the end of the hallway is bright, impossible to see past. This gives the rest of the building a sense of darkness. The hallway was once populated with people, walking in and out of doors. Now left wide open, possibly due to the sudden evacuation, these doors now welcome only the elements past its frame.
The second photo shows an empty theatre, fallen into disrepair with bricks around the seats and the screen torn. There are only two sources of light shining into the cinema, which gives the building a more abandoned ambience due to the lack of artificial light sources. During what little free time the citizens had under the Communist regime, they would spend time in recreational centres like this. Facilities like this used to be packed with people watching films in an attempt to rest from the hard work they were subjected to under the regime. The evacuation of Pripyat left the cinema to crack and crumble like what it is now.
The third photo shows a multitude of gas masks and tubes sprawled across the rubble-filled floor. There is a bluish tint to the gas masks on the right, implying that the is a lack of light shining upon that part. This creates a more aged feel to the gas masks. These gas masks were issued shortly after the disaster when the city was beginning to feel the effects of radiation. Hospital beds were full, and many people passed on prior to the issue of the gas masks. These gas masks being sprawled all over the floor shows that the people who once lived here are now gone, never to return to this radioactive hell.
Chernobyl
The Nuclear Power Plant of Chernobyl is home to the worst nuclear accident in the history of the world, due to the cost of it as well as the loss of human lives. It is also one of two level 7 events on the International Nuclear Event Scale, the highest classification. The only other event to be classified a Level 7 event is the Fukishima Daiichi event in Japan in 2011. These pictures show the destruction, the containment and ultimately the abandonment of this facility.
The first photo shows the power plant in the background with the gates closed, and a plant in the foreground. There was a focus on the plant, rather than the facility, to imply distance between the two. The facility was covered by a sarcophagus in order to limit the radioactive contamination of the area. After which, it was left so that it could cause no further radioactive harm to anyone else. The gate was closed to prevent people from entering the facility. This gate was once used as an entrance by workers, but the catastrophic accident prevented them from entering any more.
The second photo shows the power plant from another angle, this time surrounded in cranes used by the Liquidators, those who aided in limiting the damage, both short-term and long-term damage done by the disaster, to construct the sarcophagus. These cranes were abandoned and left in the vicinity of the area not only to limit the radioactive damage done to the Liquidators, but also to aid in any further construction to fortify the sarcophagus if need be. Until then, however, these cranes are left in the ghost town until they are needed once again.
The third photo is that of a tricycle with missing wheels, possibly lost to urban decay, sitting among the debris in what looks to be a pre-school. Due to the radioactive proximity of the pre-school to Chernobyl, it probably was evacuated and abandoned as soon as emergency evacuation of Pripyat started, leaving everything in the building to waste
The first photo shows the power plant in the background with the gates closed, and a plant in the foreground. There was a focus on the plant, rather than the facility, to imply distance between the two. The facility was covered by a sarcophagus in order to limit the radioactive contamination of the area. After which, it was left so that it could cause no further radioactive harm to anyone else. The gate was closed to prevent people from entering the facility. This gate was once used as an entrance by workers, but the catastrophic accident prevented them from entering any more.
The second photo shows the power plant from another angle, this time surrounded in cranes used by the Liquidators, those who aided in limiting the damage, both short-term and long-term damage done by the disaster, to construct the sarcophagus. These cranes were abandoned and left in the vicinity of the area not only to limit the radioactive damage done to the Liquidators, but also to aid in any further construction to fortify the sarcophagus if need be. Until then, however, these cranes are left in the ghost town until they are needed once again.
The third photo is that of a tricycle with missing wheels, possibly lost to urban decay, sitting among the debris in what looks to be a pre-school. Due to the radioactive proximity of the pre-school to Chernobyl, it probably was evacuated and abandoned as soon as emergency evacuation of Pripyat started, leaving everything in the building to waste