Volker Kreidler | Half Life Chernobyl

With this project, Volker Kreidler presents an extraordinary photographic record that traces Ukraine's transformation from the post-Soviet spirit of change to its current defense against the Russian invasion. On April 26, 1986, at 01:23 a.m., Reactor Block 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant suffered the most catastrophic failure in the history of civil nuclear energy. Nearly ten years later, in 1995, the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden commissioned photographer Volker Kreidler to document the aftermath of the disaster on the people, the environment, and the landscape. What began in 2015 as a nature study has evolved through repeated travels to Kyiv over the past year into a highly topical testimony of the political present in Ukraine. At the heart of his 2025 works is the resilience of the people in Kyiv and the Exclusion Zone, set against the backdrop of the ongoing Russian war of aggression. "The project brings the journey full circle," Kreidler explains. "We are returning to the people to whom we already gave a voice in 1995. Today, we are documenting a society caught between destruction and an unconditional determination to pursue a European future." With this project, Volker Kreidler presents an extraordinary photographic record that traces Ukraine's transformation from the post-Soviet spirit of change to its current defense against the Russian invasion.

Volker Kreidler (b. 1962) has been dedicated to the photographic exploration of Eastern Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. His work navigates the tensions of rapprochement with the West and the subsequent challenges regarding democracy, education, human rights, and interpersonal relationships.