Born in Montreal, Robert Polidori moved to the United States as a child and now lives in Ojai, California.

In May 2001, Robert Polidori photographed what was left behind in the dead zone resulting from the Chernobyl catastrophe on April 26, 1986. In his large-scale photographs, Polidori captures the faded colors and desolate atmosphere of two towns, Pripyat and Chernobyl, producing haunting documents that present the viewer with a rare view of not just a disastrous event, but a place and the people who lived there.

These images from that body of work are included in Zones of Exclusion: Pripyat and Chernobyl published by Steidl in 2003. 

Images courtesy of the artist and Kasmin Gallery. For more information visit the artist’s website.