The Long Shadow of Chernobyl Named the POYi Photo Book of the Year

Gerd Ludwig’s trilingual photo book, The Long Shadow of Chernobyl, published by Edition Lammerhuber, was just named Photo Book of the Year by Pictures of the Year International (POYi).

Pictures of the Year International (POYi) is the oldest and most prestigious photojournalism program in the world. POYi’s mission is to honor and promote the work of documentary photographers, magazine, newspaper, and freelance photojournalists. POYi’s worldwide competition sets the gold standard for excellence in documentary photography, photojournalism, visual editing, and online multimedia. Each year, more than 48,000 works are submitted to the contest by photojournalists from over 70 nations, who document the news events, social issues, and cultural trends.

Gerd’s captivating images of his nine visits to Chernobyl in 20 years tell tragic stories of the lives of the victims, the Exclusion Zone and the abandoned city of Pripyat – and he ventured deeper into the belly of the beast than any Western still photographer, repeatedly documenting the destroyed reactor #4, which will soon disappear under a New Safe Confinement.

An essay by Mikhail Gorbachev, the last head of state of the Soviet Union, accompanies Gerd's emotional visual narrative. This book is an important body of documentary work in view of the ongoing nuclear disaster in Fukushima 25 years later.

For info on POYi and to see the Winner's Gallery: http://poyi.org/72/R36/first_01.php

For more information on Gerd's work in Chernobyl: http://www.longshadowofchernobyl.com/

To purchase a signed copy of The Long Shadow of Chernobyl: http://www.gerdludwig.com/store/the-long-shadow-of-chernobyl-photo-book/