Although Pripyat was a city predominantly inhabited by educated and privileged people of course no city of that size could exist without a police station – it sounds so cliché, but most of the arrested people were accused of alcohol related deeds: making home-brew liquor (samogon, самого́н), driving under influence or being drunk in public. Pripyat’s police station was located at the western end of the town, right across the street from the fire department and in close proximity of the famous Jupiter factory we were visiting the next day. After visiting rather well-known touristy spots like the Swimming Pool “Azure” and Middle School #3 the Police Station was the last destination in Pripyat on the first day.
The Police Station was in as bad shape as the rest of the city, just with more books and files. We were only able to see the ground floor since time was running out and Maxim tried to keep the little group together to guide us through the prison part of the police station which was pitch black; and that’s why this time I’ll have to post some photos taken with flash. When I show people some pictures of my visit to Pripyat I often get reactions like “I would expect screaming zombies charging at me at any time!”. I actually never had that feeling, the whole city reminded me more of George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four”. Especially when walking through the dark prison hallway… You could almost see Winston Smith being interrogated in one of the cells and being tortured in another one. To my surprise I was the only one with those associations: My fellow Swiss travelers had only heard about the book, Maxim had no idea what I was talking about.
The door leading to freedom at the other end of the cell hallway actually released us to the backyard of the Police Station, once used as a repair shop for automobiles. There we found the remains of all kinds of trucks, broaching machines and even small reconnaissance tanks. Being contaminated too much to be used anymore, but not enough to be brought to the official vehicle graveyard, these wheels and chains were left behind to rust away. And that’s what they were doing. At least what was still left after looters removed the actual wheels as well as doors, headlights, wipers and even motors!
(If you would like to know more about my trip to the Zone Of Alienation please *click here* to get to the “Chernobyl & Pripyat” special. For a map of the area please *click here*.)
Zone Of Alienation – Pripyat: Police Station
2011/02/07 by Florian / Abandoned Kansai
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Fantastic photos as always! Looks like a great setting for a horror movie and/or game. There’s a disquieting stillness to the photos that just adds to the creepy factor.
Thanks a lot, Brandon! Wait till you see the pictures taken in the hospital – and the video that will come along. I felt quite uncomfortable there… although the police station was a good start!
It is a great setting for a horror movie/game… in fact, there is a game out – S.T.A.L.K.E.R. that features Pripyat and Chernobyl as the main goal to reach. The city is featured in all 3 games and has been amazingly depicted. I was 11 years old when the disaster happened so I remember it on the news and after playing the games, I decided to look it up online. In the games, the areas are so realistic and comparable to the real life photos… It is absolutely creepy yet fascinating to see.
Du solltest ernsthaft in Erwägung ziehen, das ganze Material mal als Bildband zu veröffentlichen…meinetwegen bei Books on Demand oder so.
Großartige Bilder!
Vielen Dank, Schallmauer! Ich hab mich mit den Themen “Photobuch” und “Books On Demand” noch nie auseinandergesetzt, aber sobald ich mit der Tschernobyl-Reihe durch bin, werde ich das definitiv mal nachholen.
Da es ja im April 25jähriges hat kann sich das wirklich lohnen, das wird in den Medien rauf und runtergespielt werden, da bietet es sich an, etwas von deinen Reisekosten dadurch wieder reinzuholen =)
Wahlweise würde ich Printmagazine wie Stern, Spiegel etc anscheiben und die Bilder dort anbieten, die werden beide ein Special dazu machen.
Ich hab mal ein halbes Dutzend Nachrichten- und Lifestyle-Magazine angeschrieben, morgen probiere ich es bei ein paar Zeitschriftenverlagen – ich tippe mal auf 25% Absagen und 75% “keine Reaktion”… Aber Danke für die Motivation! Wenn man so viel Zeit mit dem eigenen Material verbringt, ist es manchmal schwer einzuschätzen, wie gut es “draußen” ankommt.
WÜrde auf Planetopia (SAT1) Gallileo (Pro7) etc anschreiben. Die verwursten alles und sind vermutlich froh, wenn sie Material einkaufen können.
Vielen Dank für den Hinweis – ich werd’s probieren, E-Mails kosten ja nix. Bei den Zeitschriften war die Reaktion übrigens wie erwartet: 2x Absage (“Wir arbeiten nur mit unserem festen Stamm freier Mitarbeiter.”), 4x keine Reaktion…
Ein Freund hat mir deinen Blog gerade empfohlen und dann hatte ich gedacht schaue ich doch einmal vorbei. Und ich muss sagen er gefaellt mir richtig gut, ich glaube er koennte zu einen meiner Stammblogs werden. Echt ein Interessanter Post und ich hoffe da bekomme ich noch mehr von zu Lesen. Danke !!
Vielen Dank für die netten Worte! Ich hoffe, die derzeit aktuellen Artikel über japanische Ruinen finden ebenfalls Anklang…
hm, while your photos are good, somehow I get dizziness from your camera work. Way too too fast. But I suppose it is due to the time pressure. Horrible silence, remembers me one only- black-and-only-white movie with only a few natural sounds as the background, it starts with Jesus killing himself with a knife and then Mother Nature making the bloody corpse cum etc. Really horror. I actually think it was made by some German director, you should know that film…
The station itself remembers me rather horrific movies about soviet era, cruel interrogations and muds of blood. I personally imagined Orwell’s world differently. More modern than this, much more modern. I do not remember now the name of that father of two children that denounced him because he cried out something from sleep (I personally think that the children only made it up to be in a newspaper, btw) but the description of the prison cell where he was waiting together with Winston made me feel that the prison in the book looks more modern, somehow futuristic… And I always imagined every room way more darker, with only one lamp iluminating O’Brien’s and Winston’s face… That is only my impression.
Amazing site, thanks a lot !!
Thanks for stopping by!