Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/02/12
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I went to Paul Fusco's lecture at ICP last week and saw the most disturbing
photos I've ever encountered. Paul, as most will know, is a former Look
photographer, now a member of Magnum. He showed slides going as far back as
Woodstock, as well as snaps from Gaza and his recent book, RFK Funeral Train.
But his latest work goes beyond anything I've ever seen: the effects of
radiation fallout from Chernoblyl on Belorus.
It seems that the Soviets seeded the clouds that brought all the Chernobyl
fallout down on Belorus in the form of black rain. As a result, the country
has 1,500 times more birth defects and cancers than anywhere else. The photos
showed small children with inoperable tumors the size of basketballs, people
born without lymphatic systems, kids with their brains in a sack outside
their heads, and all manner of mental retardation etc.
All the kids are institutionalized, and while they are not mistreated
their is no money to do much besides keep them alive. Belorus, byt he way,
will remain radioactive for 25,000 years.
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