< BUNKER
Remains of the control bunker at the Semipalatinsk Test Site, which has been almost totally demolished by organised groups of scavengers. Many of the nuclear tests were controlled and monitored from this bunker.
Semipalatinsk Test Site, Kazakhstan, 2023
> DAISY
One of the few intact radar units left near Priozersk, in the region of Karaganda. A few months after it was photographed, the radar unit was acquired and then demolished by a local entrepreneur so that he could sell the parts.
Priozersk, Kazakhstan, 2023
< CEMETERY
Small Islamic cemetery close to the village of Znamenka. Znamenka, Kazakhstan, 2019
> HOODED HERDSMAN
Farmers are active all around the Semipalatinsk Test Site. Livestock farming is a traditional and vital aspect of agriculture on the Kazakh Steppe. Nomadic herding of animals such as sheep, goats, cattle and horses has been practiced for centuries. These animals are wellsuited to the steppe’s grasslands and are an important source of meat, milk, wool, and other products.
Road between Sharyzal and Karauyl, Kazakhstan, 2019
< BLACK CRATER
Infrared image of the Telkem 02 crater, at the Semipalatinsk Test Site, near the south-eastern border. The crater was the result of an excavation test in October 1968, which aimed to develop a technology that could create artificial water reservoirs and channels.
Telkem, Kazakhstan, 2023
> GROUND ZERO
Aerial image of ‘ground zero’ of the Semipalatinsk Test Site. This area of land has experienced the most nuclear detonations in the world, and remains highly contaminated. The contours of numerous craters – some of them less than 5 metres apart –are visible in the muddy ground.
Semipalatinsk Test Site, Kazakhstan, 2019
Infrared image of people on the northern ridge of Lake Shagan.
Lake Shagan, Kazakhstan, 2022
> THE ATOMIC LAKE
Aerial image of Lake Shagan. This lake was created by the 140-kiloton Shagan nuclear test on 15 January 1965, part of the Soviet Union’s “Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy” programme. Both the United States and the USSR had programmes that tested whether canals, lakes, harbours and other waterways could be created through nuclear blasts.
Lake Shagan, Kazakhstan, 2019
< GRAVE
One of the many graves in the area. Znamenka, Kazakhstan, 2019
> HERDSMAN WITH DOG
Portrait of Yerbol, a herdsman near the village of Znamenka, south-east of the Semipalatinsk Test Site. He was accompanied by a big herd and his dog. Semipalatinsk Test Site, Kazakhstan, 2019
