I followed the Fukushima nuclear accident from the beginning till now, covering almost two years of the story. And here there is my story.
On march 11, 2011 one of the worst earthquake and Tsunami hit Japan and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, damaging its safety and cooling systems. In a few days the core of the nuclear power plants number 1,2,3 started melting down with the release on air and on the ocean of massive amount of radioactive radionuclides
The Japanese government created an evacuated area of 20 km around the nuclear power plant of Fukushima Daiichi. From 20th April the Japanese government refused the admittance to the “No-Go Zone” to everyone, especially to journalists and photographers. But… From the first days of July till now I went inside the No-Go Zone several times to document the situation.
Inside the exclusion zone the contamination has a “leopard skin” distribution, as well as outside, where there are places heavily contaminated up to 60 kilometers from the plant, including parts of the cities of Fukushima and Koriyama. And in this area 2 million people live at risk of future disease caused by continuous exposure to low doses of radiation through inhalation and ingestion of radioactive particles.
Despite the massive contamination, life is still going on in the "No-Go Zone" and in that sort of "nuclear limbo" that stretches for 40 kilometers outside the exclusion zone, where people do not know whether to stay and learn to live with radiation, or go away forever.
The story is still ongoing and we will not know soon the real consequences of the second worst nuclear disaster ever happened.
Italian humanist and environmental photographer/filmmaker, is an award - winning photographer based in Italy.
His photographs have been exhibited all over Europe, United States and China, and published in Italian and international newspapers and magazines among them: l'Espresso, Internazionale, Alias del Manifesto, Vogue Italia, Corriere della Sera
Repubblica, Panorama, Il Sole 24 ore, Oggi, Le Scienze, Daylight Magazine, Days Japan International, Asahi Shinbum, The Telegraph, The Guardian, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Spiegel, Wired USA, Asian Geo, China Newsweek, National Geographic USA
Awards 2013 Special Prize by Juries “Days Japan international Photojournalism Awards”
2013 Honorable mention "Fotovisura Grant 2013"
2013 Finalist "Eugene Smith Grant 2013"
2013 Honorable Mention "PX3 Prix de la Photographie 2013"
2014 Public Prize "Days Japan International Photojournalism Awards 2014"
2014 Finalist "Leica Oskar Barnack Awards"
2014 Honorable Mention "PX3 Prix de la Photographie 2014"
2014 Finalist "Pictures of the Year international" category Environmental Vision Award
2015 Finalist "Pictures of the Year international" category best photography book award
2015 Finalist "Gomma Grant 2015"
2015 Honorable Mention "PX3 Prix de la Photographie 2015"
2015 Honorable Mention "SIPA Awards"
2015 Finalist "Travel Photographer of the year 2015"
2016 Remarkable Awards "SIPA awards"
2016 Honorable mention "SDN visual stories exploring global themes"
2016 Finalist POY Pictures of the year international, category "Environmental Vision Award"
2017 "Earth Reporter of the year 2017" from Earth Day Italia, Bologna, Italy 2017
2017 Highly Commended "Travel Photographer of the Year 2017"
2018 Finalist "Gomma Grant 2018"
2019 Shortlisted "Alexia Foundation Grant 2019"
2020 Shortlisted "Sony World Photography Awards 2020" Environmental category
2020 Finalist "Pictures of The Year International" Environmental Vision Award category
2020 Award of Excellence "Pictures of The Year International" Science & Natural History—Picture Story category
