Leonid Toptunov’s Last Day in Pripyat solargraph – Archival quality print, frame not included

Description

View from the roof of Leonid Toptunov’s apartment building on Sports Street in Pripyat, photographed over a period of one year with a hand-made pinhole camera.

Leonid Toptunov was a senior reactor control engineer who played a key role in the events of 26 April 1986. Stepping out onto his balcony and looking to the right, Leonid would have seen the same sun slowly setting before leaving home for the very last time to start his shift at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

Unexpectedly, the camera recorded the movement of the sun across the sky on the day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the 24th February 2022, and the month-long occupation of the Power Plant located just three kilometres away.

Each print is produced using a 10-colour archival pigment printing process on heavyweight 300gsm pearlescent photographic paper. For works larger than 13″x19″ please contact me directly.