‘Chernobyl: a silent testimony’ is a duo exhibition by two Brabant photographers, Anita Spooren and Wigo Worsseling, in which each in their own way has documented the consequences of the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl in 1986. Both are involved in ‘urbex’ photography. Urbex is an abbreviation of Urban Exploring, which literally means ‘exploring the urban’. In practice, people visit and photograph abandoned buildings. 

This project is partly an exception to this, in the sense that it also involves visualising the consequences of the disaster, which means that these photos also fit into the category of documentary photography. 

Photos are shown of mainly buildings in Pripyat, once a model city of the Soviet government with some 50,000 inhabitants. The inhabitants were evacuated in a hurry after the nuclear power plant disaster in nearby Chernobyl on April 26, 1986. This disaster, like the sinking of the Titanic, appeals to the imagination. 

The photos are a tribute to the silent testimony of the ghost town of Pripyat. This series of photos of destroyed apartments, schools, nurseries and hospitals touch the essence, and therefore have a great impact, even 38 years after the largest nuclear disaster in history. In addition, the series has connections with the current situation in Ukraine where people have to flee from the danger of war, villages are destroyed, and the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is also regularly part of the battle. 

About the photographers: 

Anita Spooren (1966) took photography courses at the CKE in Eindhoven and specialized in Urban Exploring in 2015. 

Wigo Worsseling (1967) studied at the Fotovakschool in Boxtel and specialized in Urban Exploring in 2006. 

On Wednesday evening, December 18, 2024, Anita Spooren and Wigo Worsseling will give a lecture about this series.