Volker Kreidler
Half Life Chernobyl

On April 26, 1986, at 01:23 a.m. local time, Reactor Block 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant suffered the worst-case scenario in the history of civil nuclear power. Nearly ten years later, in 1995, the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden commissioned photographer Volker Kreidler to document the aftermath of the catastrophe for the people, the environment, and the landscape. What began as a nature study in 2015 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 the 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,” says the photographer. “We are returning to the people to whom we already gave a voice in 1995.Today, we are documenting a society standing between destruction and an unconditional determination to pursue a European future.”

With this project, Volker Kreidler presents an extraordinary photographic documentation that traces Ukraine’s transformation from the post-Soviet spirit of change to the current war of defense against Russia. Volker Kreidler (*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 associated challenges concerning democracy, education, human rights, and interpersonal relationships