Preparation. подготовка.

I booked my flights today, 8:30 Sunday the 15th of March (18 days from now) i will be leaving for Ukraine. sitting on my own on a British Airways plane probably terrified, trying to note down the kind of questions i will be asking Belorussian scientists and the families who's lives have been ruined by Chernobyl. and most likely struggling to remember all the Russian i will be cramming into my head over the next 18 days. im pretty sure this is going to be one of the most epic potentially lonely and life changing trips i have ever been on, made even more so by the nature of what i am dealing with, these are real people and real problems.. something that almost feels like it wont really sink in until im there facing the conditions these people have to live in everyday. As well as the fact that instead of English as a second language Ukrainian people Speak Russian as a second language, and English as maybe a third or fourth. which is actually quite nice, removes the urge to not even bother learning the language because "most people will speak English" i am getting Student Interpreters to help me with the big interviews, but the rest of the time im on my own with my limited Russian, and a guide who dusnt speak a word of English... fuck...

I'm shooting Digitally and i got a new flashgun which I'm trying to keep in brand new condition so i can sell it as new (+a bit of radiation, but ill most likely leave this out of the ebay description.) when i get back. cheapskate, yes, but also sensible!

I have a meeting with VICE magazine tomorrow to discuss the potential of publishing my photo story from Ukraine, which is pretty exciting.

Introduction. Введение.

On the 15th of March 2009 i will be going to Ukraine, to make a photo story about the effects of The Chernobyl Disaster, 23 years after its occurrence. I will be working with the National Chernobyl Union to visit the site were the accident happened, meet the people still living in the highly radiated areas and children with birth defects and cancers directly attributed to the Disaster. i will also have a chance to interview a Professor, Yury Bandazhevsky who is researching the effects of long term radiation and some of the doctors/officials in charge of dealing with the case. i will return on the 7th April after 24 days out there. this blog will act as a log of my trip.

I have had a lot of help organizing the trip from Chernobyl Children Lifeline and could not have done it without there help and cooperation.