Radiation next door

• Photographer
  Alexey Furman, India

This photo essay looks into the everyday lives of those affected by the Chernobyl disaster. Shot in the Ukrainian rural border region outside the 30km 'Exclusion Zone'. People here have decided not to leave their native land in a search of a better life in ecologically safer places. They are villagers, who plant the seeds in the soil that can be poisoned, they are men and women, who receive less than 25 pence 'on healthy food' from the government and survive. They are people who overcame the consequences of the tragedy that taught them to value their families, their neighbours, their land. They are not afraid of the 'Exlusion Zone' that lies some kilometres outside their homes, though it still remains one of the most polluted areas on Earth.