γ [gamma trace]

Trinity Site, New Mexico, USA, 2017

[γ] / gamma trace - series of radiographic images - direct exposures of radioactive ground, Trinity Site, NM; photosensitive emulsion on aluminum and copper plates; plate size: 6x9", 2017.

Medium: radiography. Visual registration of the post-radiation space – on-site exposure with the use of the radiographic technique.

The radiography process is a recording of gamma rays’ emission - irradiation of the surface of the radioactive ground directly on the photosensitive plate.

Basic data: ■ location: Trinity Site, NM, USA, ■ date: 01.04.2017, ■ soil radiation: 0.5 milliroentgen/hour, ■ technique: irradiation – radiography. ■ applied photosensitive material: Hydrocoat Resist Plate, Imagon Film, Puretech, liquid photosensitive emulsions on copper/zinc/polymer plates.

Unique properties of radiographic technology reflect the effect of extreme radiation, caused by the nuclear explosion – visual evidence of which was the shadows (of people and objects) left on the ground after the explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Radiography, a direct photo-technique, uses gamma radiation (gamma rays that irradiate and therefore literally expose photosensitive plates) as a method of recording and archiving the nuclear trauma – the way atomic explosion irradiates and mutilates the ground by emitting gamma rays. The resulting images, captured on the verge of the visible, function as a material trace - a scar – or a pure indexical manifestation of the place's invisible, inherent trauma.