OLAF DüBER
Soviet Utopia

In 1970, the Soviet Union started the construction of a nuclear power plant in the north of Ukraine. It was named after one of the few noteworthy towns in the sparsely populated area: Chernobyl. Along with the power plant, the city of Pripyat was built for the thousands of people who would be working at Chernobyl.
Pripyat was a beautiful city. Buildings like the Palace of Culture or the Hotel Polissya exuded the splendour of modern Soviet aesthetics. Urban planning included amenities for sport, leisure and culture in an attractive setting with a lot of greenery. Housing blocks offered flats of the most modern standard, and together with an exceptionally good supply of consumer goods attracted young people from all over the country. No other city received as much investment by the state as Pripyat. It was meant as a showcase of a shining future, in which the utopia of communism has become reality.
In the early hours of April 26th, 1986 this utopia scattered into radioactive dust.

Author
Amateur photographer with an interest in fascinating and remote landscapes and dystopian lost places. Especially the combination of both give me photographical joy and inspiration by conveying a feeling of being lost not only in time but also in space.

Website
www.lostscapes.de

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