This month’s print of the month is “Antenna, Chernobyl-2” Visiting this site in Ukraine was something I had dreamed of for years. The history of the Russian woodpecker is a Cold War legend that I remember hearing about as a kid. The complex itself is just outside of Pripyat, and had it’s own security monitoring the facility. We were turned away a couple times, but eventually the right person was found for us to get access. I’ll always remember the impromptu breakfast the custodian made us at the gate before we were allowed to walk a mile or so to the antenna complex. Like much of the exclusion zone parts of the antenna were being dismantled for scrap. It was a little unclear if this was official or unofficial dismantling, but the antenna is impressive to say the least. Definitely check out the videos of my guide climbing to the top of the antenna (I opted to not climb the Duga Antenna with my large format camera!) In addition to the antenna there were a number of interesting building with machine rooms and control instruments. There was also a small living area that was very interesting, apparently the workers here lived right next to the buildings they were in charge of.
