Chernobyl Exclusion Zone | Abandoned Things
A focused fragment of the broader Chernobyl Exclusion Zone project, this colour series documents the everyday objects left behind in the wake of sudden evacuation. These seemingly ordinary items—children’s toys, gas masks, teacups, photographs, shoes—become powerful symbols of interrupted lives and frozen time. Each photograph invites close observation. The textures of dust, rust, decay, and stillness speak quietly of presence through absence. Captured in natural light and delicate tones, the images retain a sense of realism and respect, resisting sensationalism in favour of emotional resonance. These abandoned things, scattered across crumbling interiors and overtaken by nature, echo the intimacy of domestic life before it was broken. Abandoned Things offers a poetic and haunting inventory of memory, fragility, and the quiet persistence of what was once meaningful.