Chernobyl

My endeavor with my photographs has not been to convey information, introduce a place, or bear witness to a process, but rather to reach the emotions of the viewer. I chose not to disclose when or where a photograph was taken, nor to tell its story. I tried to bring together photographs that could reveal the commonalities of these diverse places. I wanted the viewer to move away from the comfort of looking at the pain of the defined "other" and establish a connection that could touch their own life, through these photographs taken in distant lands.
—Emin Altan

Chernobyl collects Emin Altan’s photo series "Chornobyl," which he worked on between 2015 and 2020, and thirteen articles that examine various aspects of the nuclear disaster from different perspectives. Cemil Aksu edited the publication, Rachel Walther was the text editor for the English edition published by Manifold, and the authors include Emin Altan, Günther Anders, Slavoj Žižek, Pınar Demircan, Mehmet Özdağ, A. Öner Kurt and Gülçin Yapıcı, Foti Benlisoy, Osman Özarslan, Eda Sezgin, Cemil Aksu, Özgür Gürbüz, Martin Cohen, and Michael Löwy. The translation from Turkish to English was done by Neylan Bağcıoğlu, and the book design by Esen Karol.

Contents: EMİN ALTAN, “Chornobyl: One Small Step for Cosmos, One Giant Leap for Humankind” / GÜNTHER ANDERS, “Ten Theses on Chernobyl” / SLAVOJ ŽIŽEK, “Nature and Its Discontents” / PINAR DEMİRCAN, “Reproduction of Apocalyptic History: Nuclear Disasters” / MEHMET ÖZDAĞ, “Things to Know about Türkiye’s Nuclear Energy Story!” / A. ÖNER KURT and GÜLÇİN YAPICI, “Effects of Nuclear Plants on Public Health” / FOTİ BENLİSOY, “Nuclear, Ecomodernism, and Capitalist Exposal” / OSMAN ÖZARSLAN, “The Chernobyl Disaster and The Birth of Bio-Citizenship” / EDA SEZGİN, “The ‘Prohibited Zone’: The Exhausted Image of Nuclear and Beyond” / CEMİL AKSU, “Energy for What, for Who?” / ÖZGÜR GÜRBÜZ, “Nuclear Opportunism in the Climate Crisis” / MARTIN COHEN, “How to Slay the Nuclear Zombie?” / MICHAEL LÖWY, “Beyond Progress: The Ecosocialist Alternative”.