Growth : David McMillanTools Dunlop, Derek. Growth : David McMillan. Winnipeg, MB: Martha Street Studio, 2014.
Abstract (English)"I began photographing in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in 1994, eight years after the nuclear accident. I had been interested in the relationship between nature and culture - the contest between the natural world and the built environment - and I anticipated the exclusion zone would offer a unique set of circumstances. Cities and villages in the affected area were rendered uninhabitable, requiring the evacuation of 135,000 people. As well, a large pine forest surrounding the nuclear power plant died within days of the accident and had to be buried as nuclear waste. Journalists characterized the area as a "dead zone", which is what I expected to find. However, having photographed there on eighteen different occasions, it's apparent that nature has proliferated while the built environment has deteriorated. In the city of Pripyat, where the employees of the nuclear power plant once lived with their families and where these photographs are from, the courtyards and walkways have become dense with bushes and trees, and the spread of vegetation extends to the interiors of buildings. This growth has hastened the decay of the city, with roots weakening joints and cracking concrete, causing buildings to collapse. Soon, indoors and outdoors will become blurred, obscuring the remaining traces of a once thriving culture” -- David McMillan, publisher's web site.
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