Magnum Collection Assignment

BELARUS. Chernobyl Hot Zone. 1997. Ivan's wife carries a cube of pig fat to prepare a meal in her kitchen.
Creator: Paul Fusco

For this assignment, I settled on a photograph taken by Paul Fusco in 1997. As you can see from the credit line, the photograph is identified on ARTstor as BELARUS. Chernobyl Hot Zone. 1997. Ivan's wife carries a cube of pig fat to prepare a meal in her kitchen. 

While I had originally anticipated selecting a photograph representing food photography, I didn't really believe that it would be applicable for this assignment as an example of a documentary photograph. Switching my search term to 'kitchen' I eventually settled on this photograph, which displays 'Ivan's' wife working in her kitchen while preparing a meal. I was drawn to this particular photograph because I personally believe that a kitchen can provide interesting insights into one's life. At least to me, the nature of Ivan's wife's kitchen can offer clues regarding their lives. Although she has an oven in the kitchen, everything else around here appears to be relatively basic kitchen technology. Could it be that the majority of her cooking is done by hand? At the same time, considering its location, in a Chernobyl Hot Zone, the photograph shows ways in which life has endured in an area famously devastated by tragedy. To me documentary photography captures a solitary moment which offers the viewer insight into an event, be it extraordinary or mundane. It has a scope which can range from representing a historically significant moment (people taking apart the Berlin Wall) to everyday activities (a woman carry pig fat for a meal in her kitchen). Although the title might offer further details, the viewer is is encouraged to make their own interpretations regarding the image.