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Chernobyl: Confessions of a Reporter

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Written by prizewinning journalist Igor Kostin, who braved severe radiation to take the only existing photograph of the Chernobyl plant on the day of its catastrophic destruction, Chernobyl: Confessions of a Reporter is a compilation of black-and-white and color photographs that Kostin continued to take for twenty years of the plant, the forbidden zone surrounding it, and the people who worked there. For the first time, Kostin presents Chernobyl's story in words as well as pictures, yet it is the photographs that utterly dominate Chernobyl: Confessions of a Reporter, captured images ranging from men transporting radioactive blocks with their naked hands to the evacuation of villages and the construction of the sacrophagus. A singularly compelling visual glimpse into the heart and aftermath of tragedy.

For people who love to see great pictures about the Chernobyl tragedy this book is a blessing. Form day one Igor took pictures and continued to do so. This book will give you a view form the disaster and its impact. All condensed in one book. Not only are the pictures of great quality, but pictures are also accompanied with good comments that put the pictures in the right perspective.
Highly recommended for picture lovers and people who are interested in the Chernobyl disaster and its impact on the environment and peoples lives.

I was a sophomore in college on April 26, 1985 when the news of Chernobyl broke. I remember sitting with friends in my dorm room when someone down the hall prompted us to adjust our television's aluminum foil "rabbit ears" to see the news of an explosion at a nuclear reactor in the Soviet Union. Looking back, I recall two simultaneous reactions: 1) This may be serious and 2) It's the Soviet Union, so we'll never hear the truth about what really happened. But, being young and in college (at springtime) on the other side of the world, the importance of Chernobyl as a newsworthy event dissipated almost immediately. Over twenty years later, I finally took an interest in the Chernobyl accident ... after playing two video games that generated a simply amazing first-person "tour" of the Chernobyl plant and the haunting ghost-town of Pripyat (who says video games are mindless?). The scenery in the games generated a craving to learn more about the mysterious events surrounding Chernobyl and the events that followed. In my quest to obtain more knowledge, I wanted a definitive pictorial reference and Igor Kostin's CHERNOBYL: CONFESSIONS OF A REPORTER proved to be an essential resource for me.

The problem I've discovered with Chernobyl is that it doesn't seem to get the attention it deserves. While the accident is always referenced as the "worst nuclear disaster in history", the event, 25 years later, still remains clouded in mystery and for many in the Western Hemisphere, it sadly doesn't even register as a significant event (just ask any college kid). Making matters worse, there is very little photographic evidence to paint a clearer picture of the event and its aftermath (other than the exploitation and exaggeration of Chernobyl by video game developers). This is why I found Igor Kostin's book to be so valuable. Kostin was there, with his camera, in April 1986 and was so touched by the events unfolding that he kept coming back ... even though it almost cost him his life.

CHERNOBYL: CONFESSIONS OF A REPORTER is a phenomenal photographic chronicle of the Chernobyl accident and its impact on the people and places associated with it. While primarily a book of photographs grouped into chapters dedicated to subject-matter, the pictures only tell part of the story. Kostin's words add a significant degree of depth and sadness to the visual presentation. The combination of words and photos paint a much clearer picture of the drama that unfolded at Chernobyl in 1986 and the eerie nature of Soviet Union using humans as fodder in response to a crisis. Starting with the only known picture taken of the Chernobyl plant the day of the explosion (a radiation-hazed aerial view of the gaping hole in the No. 4 reactor), what follows is a gloomy photographic account of what happened after the accident: doomed men (known as "liquidators") assigned to remove the super-deadly radioactive debris from the reactor's core ... the subsequent evacuation of those living within the 30km zone surrounding the crippled plant ... the construction of the concrete and lead sarcophagus meant to contain the still-volatile core ... and the contaminated wasteland that remains. The pictures speak volumes: the photo of men wearing simple masks and gloves while shoveling chunks of highly-radioactive graphite on the roof of the damaged reactor is in direct contrast to the photo of a man testing radiation levels miles away from the plant wearing a fully protective suit. Other photos document meager attempts of Soviet Union to contain the spread of radiation by burying villages and creating graveyards for the multitude of contaminated vehicles, but not the looters scavenging radioactive parts. Photos of an eight-footed foal and a child suffering from mutations serve as examples of anomalies that may be linked to the disaster.
Kostin's photos and accompanying commentary initially reveal a much more chaotic and desperate scenario that I have previously seen, but photos of his subsequent returns to the region reveal the eerie beauty of natures resilience (a radiation warning sign amid a field of yellow flowers) and man's doggedness (elderly villagers fearlessly returning to their contaminated villages). Kostin even documents his own bout with radiation sickness following numerous visits to the region.

CHERNOBYL: CONFESSIONS OF A REPORTER is an excellent graphic account of the disaster in that it provides an up-close viewing of how man contained an unleashed nuclear beast (at least temporarily). While the pictures tell a story, it is the author's brief introductions to each chapter and photo commentary that bring the pictures to life. An impressive book that does more than simply illustrate a sequence of events, CONFESSIONS OF A REPORTER adds scope and gravity to the Chernobyl tragedy.

I have always been interested in Chernobyl nuclear accident and this is the most comprehensive book I have found. Most of the pictures are from the time immediately following the accident

Fabulous, Fabulous, Fabulous insight and angle on what happened at Chernobyl.
I read the entire book in one night! What a brave and intriguing man, Igor Kostin is!
Great photographs and brief summaries between chapters of what happened.
Must get to keep on your shelf.

People forget to quickly the scope of the Chernobyl disaster. Igor Kostin is an amazing man (I've seen many interviews, along with his stunning photography) who offered us almost a fly on the wall view of the events. We get a glimpse of a few of the many heroes who got the disaster under control, though they paid the ultimate price. Great commentary accompanies the photos.