THE LONG SHADOW OF CHERNOBYL NAMED THE POYi PHOTO BOOK OF THE YEAR

February 18, 2015

Gerd Ludwig’s trilingual photo book, The Long Shadow of Chernobyl, published by Edition Lammerhuber, was just named Photo Book of the Year by Pictures of the Year International (POYi).

Pictures of the Year International (POYi) is the oldest and most prestigious photojournalism program in the world. POYi’s mission is to honor and promote the work of documentary photographers, magazine, newspaper, and freelance photojournalists. POYi’s worldwide competition sets the gold standard for excellence in documentary photography, photojournalism, visual editing, and online multimedia. Each year, more than 48,000 works are submitted to the contest by photojournalists from over 70 nations, who document the news events, social issues, and cultural trends.

Captivating images of National Geographic photographer Gerd Ludwig’s nine visits to Chernobyl in 20 years tell us tragic stories of the life of the victims, the Exclusion Zone and the abandoned city of Pripyat. Ludwig ventured deeper into the belly of the beast than any Western photographer, repeatedly documenting the destroyed rector #4, which will disappear under a New Safe Confinement for at least 100 years. Bordering the site of the worst nuclear disaster to date, the abandoned city of Pripyat might face a similar destiny as authorities decide what to do with it.

An essay by Mikhail Gorbachev, the last head of state of the Soviet Union, accompanies Gerd Ludwig’s emotional visual narrative. This book is an important body of documentary work in view of the ongoing nuclear disaster in Fukushima 25 years later.

For more information on POYi: http://www.poyi.org/

To buy a signed copy of The Long Shadow of Chernobyl: http://www.gerdludwig.com/store/the-long-shadow-of-chernobyl-photo-book/

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