On April 26, 1986, a nuclear disaster occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, releasing radioactive material and causing the worst nuclear accident in history. The town of Pripyat near the plant was abandoned after the residents were evacuated. In 2009, Swiss photographer Timm Suess visited Pripyat and documented the abandoned buildings and infrastructure, publishing his photos and observations in his Chernobyl Journal. His photos show the eerie decay and reclamation of nature in the ghost town left behind after the residents fled following the nuclear disaster.

2. On the 26th of April, 1986, nuclear disaster struck the former Soviet Union. An explosion and fire that
followed at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine released radioactive materials into the
atmosphere, resulting in the most expensive and deadliest nuclear disaster in history.
The now-abandoned town of PRIPYAT near Chernobyl power plant and its inhabitants – mostly plant
workers and their families – were the main victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Timm Suess visited Pripyat what he called “Ground Zero of the 1986 Accident” in 2009 and began putting
together his now infamous Chernobyl Journal.
Note:
The actual town of Chernobyl was farther from the power plant than Pripyat — about 10 miles (@16.1 kilometres)
— but it was also affected by the nuclear disaster.
Who is Timm Suess?
• He was born and grew up in Basel, Switzerland.
• After 2002 he specialized in URBAN DECAY photography.
• He is best known for his CHERNOBYL JOURNAL.
Most of his work revolves around the slow battle between HUMAN STRUCTURES and NATURE’S DECAY
PROCESSES. He is fascinated by the effects of time. His pictures show internal spaces, external
structures, crumbling walls, industrial details and abstract compositions. He tries to demonstrate that the
ABSENCE OF HUMAN LIFE changes A LOCATION fundamentally (at the basic level).
Timm Suess: About Me.

3. ‘The abandoned city of Pripyat
with Chernobyl Power Plant in the distance.’

4. ‘Three security checks to enter the City of Pripyat.
“Entry into the zone of exclusion is only allowed with proper authorizations and a tour guide.”’

5. ‘A couple of minutes later, we arrived in the heart of the city:
Lenin Square in the middle of Pripyat, where two of the main city axes cross.’

6. ‘To the west are the big restaurants and the market and the high rise of the Voskhod Building
with its hammer and sickle insignia on top.’

7. ‘To the east, Pripyat’s Hotel Polissya.
To the north, the Palace of Culture with the arched walkway and its white columns.’

8. ‘The Palace of Culture
A strange experience of the urban exploration aspect.’

9. ‘Underneath the apartment block was a former supermarket,
which was used as a storage for a lot of the furniture.’

10. ‘The Palace of Culture.
A room full of Communist party member portraits.’

11. ‘We then moved on to the Pripyat Amusement Park where
the big Ferris Wheel, the Bumper Car and two other rides stood lonely on a large, flat field of asphalt.’

12. ‘The Amusement Park was an unsettling place. The Ferris Wheel loomed underneath a cloud-scattered
sky and every few minutes gave off guttural creaking noises.’

13. ‘The evening sun tinted the hall – containing a public pool – in a warm yellow through the enormous
windows, which contrasted its otherwise blue hue.’

14. ‘The building also contained a gym hall
with wooden floors.’

15. ‘Just next to the pool was School #3,
a huge complex of two building full of classrooms and halls.’

16. ‘In the dining hall we found a large number of children’s respirators on the floor,
their empty eyes staring at the paint chips in the ceiling like little grey elephant heads.’

17. ‘School #1 was falling apart; its west wing had succumbed to the elements
and reduced to a pile of rubble a couple of years ago.’

18. ‘A long corridor used to be the school’s wardrobe, a maze of teal coloured metal skeletons;
on the muddy floor, boxes full of children’s gas masks.’

19. ‘In front of the school, I found a small glass building
which turned out to be the school’s greenhouse.’

20. ‘The old Pripyat Hospital was one of the biggest and most rewarding locations.
It consisted of five (5) large buildings, about six (6) stories high, all interconnected.’

21. ‘The rusty white baby cribs standing in a paint-shedding room
under observation of two lonely chairs were a sight both sad and peaceful.’

22. ‘As opposed to the twisted Ob Gyn Chair (Obstetrics, Gynaecology – birthing chair) in the room next to
them. One of the chairs was in front of the entrance, which felt artificial and unnecessary.’

23. ‘The reactor didn’t look like a nuclear reactor; it was an unspectacular, long, rectangular building, two
outstanding features being the chimney and the bluish-grey sarcophagus.’ (stone coffin usually above ground)

24. ‘The Chernobyl Power Plant consisted of six (6) reactors, two (2) of which were never finished;
these two ‘5’ and ‘6’ were located on an artificial island east of the power plant.’

25. ‘The vast area around the Power Plant was surprisingly lively; of the original four (4) reactors,
the three (3) surviving the accident remained operating until the year 2000.’

26. ‘Since then, the reactors are slowly being decommissioned, which will take at least until 2020.
For this reason many nuclear workers are still employed in Chernobyl.’

27. ‘Pripyat’s old militia station was full of old vehicles:
Cars, buses, trucks, dredgers, even a small tank.’

28. ‘The last location we visited before returning to the research station was the old shipyard north of
Chernobyl. The rusty boats looked beautiful in the evening sunlight.’

29. “Chernobyl and Prypiat are, from an urban exploration point of view, unique locations
for several reasons:
• The former inhabitants of the surrounding cities left the area over
night, leaving most of their houses as they were;
• A 19 kilometre exclusion zone has been erected around the power
plant, letting only authorized persons entering the area;
• Nobody is allowed to live in the area (with some exceptions) for
the next couple of hundred years.
All in all, Prypiat and Chernobyl are ghost towns whose existence documents one of the
most significant man-made disasters in history. It’s also an urban explorer’s dream come
true; and with appropriate safety precautions not that dangerous as you might think.”
Timm Suess
Chernobyl Journal: Timm Suess

30. “Before the Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986, the City of Pripyat had almost 50,000
inhabitants, many of whom worked at the Nuclear Power Plant close by. Abandoned 24
hours after the disaster, Pripyat has been left to decay ever since.
In 2009, Timm Suess a Swiss photographer and industrial psychologist, spent two days
photographing what was left and writing his Chernobyl Journal as an accompaniment to
his images.
He states:
‘My main object of interest are places where man-made order collides with natural
chaos: Abandoned factories, house military installations, hospitals, and other human
structures that have been left to die.’”
Timm Suess
Chernobyl Journal: Timm Suess

31. Thru
Timm
Seuss’
Eyes

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Timm
Seuss’
Eyes

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Timm
Seuss’
Eyes

34. • After Chernobyl: Pictures of Pripyat by Timm Suess
• Chernobyl Journal: Timm Seuss
• Stunning Yet Eerie Photos Show 'Ground Zero' Of Chernobyl Years After The
Nuclear Disaster
• Many Faces of Decay: Timm Seuss Photography
• Slides: 1-30 - Photography by Timm Suess