whiteness in Černobyl

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Buy the book whiteness in Černobyl by Marco Cortesi.

The book was printed in April 2024 in 350 copie: 264 in the normal edition and 86 in the special edition.

Photo by Marco Cortesi
Editorial direction: Stefano Bianchi (Crowdbooks)
Photo and book editing: Paola Riccardi
Introductory text: Stefano Agustoni

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Standard edition

Only 264 copies (to remember 26th of April)

Book format 19 x 24,5 x 3 cm, internal 16,5 x 24 cm. 700g
60 photos in b/w, 136 pages.
Printed on Fedrigoni Arena Natural Rough paper.
Internal white metal spiral.

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Special edition

Only 86 copies (to remember year 1986).
Each copy is signed, numbered and with two additional photos.

Book format 19 x 24,5 x 3 cm, internal 16,5 x 24 cm. 700g
60 photos in b/w, 136 pages.
Printed on Fedrigoni Arena Natural Rough paper.
Internal black metal spiral.

Buy your copy

The project

Marco Cortesi was indirectly affected by the Chernobyl disaster at the age of five, when – without knowing the reason – he could no longer play in the garden at home.

Later, when he became passionate about the world of photography, he began to take an interest in photographic projects carried out in Chernobyl and in 2012, also following the nuclear accident in Fukushima (Japan) the year before, he decided to go to Ukraine to see with the consequences of the nuclear disaster with their own eyes and to collect their own photographic/documentary testimony.

Two years later, in February 2014, he decided to return to Chernobyl and stay longer to carry out a more in-depth report and during the winter period, when the snow on the one hand makes the environments visually more interesting, on the other it partially protects from radiation emitted by contaminated dust still found in the ground.

Marco Cortesi documents today’s Chernobyl exclusion zone working with a Leica M Monochrom and a Leica Summilux-M 35 f/1.4 lens made available by Leica Camera Switzerland to carry out this project.

Marco Cortesi

Marco Cortesi was born in Lugano (Switzerland) in 1981. Graduated in Human Geography at the University of Milan (Italy), he is a documentary photographer. After having attended various photography courses and masterclasses both at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York (USA) and with photographers from the Magnum Photos and VII Photo agencies, he founded the LuganoPhotoDays International Photography Festival in 2012 and, two years later, the reportage award now called the Swiss Storytelling Photo Grant, which hosts important names of photographers and photo editors from all over the world on the juries. From 2023 he organises photo travel.

ig: @marco.cortesi
web: marcocortesi.ch

Portfolio

Events

May 23, 2025 at 20:30 – FotoClub Turrita (Bellinzona, Switzerland)

Talk about the book “whiteness in Černobyl” and photo travels.
With Marco Cortesi (geographer and photographer)

November 15, 2025 at 17:00 – Casa Azul (Gordola, Svizzera)

Book presentation “whiteness in Černobyl” in collaboration with GEA-associazione dei geografi, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the association.
With Marco Cortesi (geographer and photographer) and Stefano Agustoni (geographer)

Press review

PrivatePhotoReview (May 15, 2024)
RSI Rete Uno, SEIDISERA Magazine (December 8, 2024)
Frames: The Doubling Call – Review of “Whiteness in Černobyl” by Marco Cortesi (March 22, 2025)
LFI Leica Fotografie International: LFI Magazine 3.2025 (April 2025)

whiteness in Černobyl