ABOUT FULBRIGHT

My Fulbright Life

Transcript For: Michael Forster Rothbart, Photography, Ukraine

Michael Forster Rothbart discusses his Fulbright experience in the Ukraine photographing and interviewing people still living in the Chernobyl area.

Michael Forster Rothbart

Lee: Hello, and welcome to my Fulbright Life. Joining me today is Michael Forster Rothbart, and he is going to share a little bit about his Fulbright experience in with me.  I just want to thank you for taking a little bit of time to chat with me Michael. 

Michael: Oh, thanks for having me Lee.

Lee: So let’s get going by you talking a little bit about where you were, for your Fulbright experience, and talk a little bit about what you were doing there.

Michael: So, I am a photographer, and I spent my Fulbright year in Ukraine in little farming villages around Chernobyl.  Basically what I was doing was photographing, and interviewing people who are still living in the Chernobyl affected area now a generation after the accident there.   Really, my goal was to understand why people choose to still stay there.  I know if I had lived near Chernobyl I would not stay but these people have really deep ties to the land, and I just was fascinated to talk to people and understand more about their lives. 

Lee: Before we go onto talking about your project a little more and what you learned from it, talk a little bit about why you applied for the Fulbright?

Michael: I have always been really interested in understanding what happens after an environmental catastrophe.  As a photo journalist we go in when there is a disaster and take pictures and leave but people live there.  Their lives just continue and they continue to deal with the repercussions.  So, the Chernobyl accident happened in April, 1986, it is almost 25 years ago.  Basically there was an ill-conceived late night safety test that went awry, the reactor caught fire, and spewed radioactive materials, not just in Ukraine, but really across much of Europe.  But the people who are the most affected are the people who were living within 30, 40, 50 miles of the reactor and today they are dealing not just with radiation problems but also with all the secondary affects.  There is a stigma against people who live there, there are economic problems because the businesses have left, there are health problems of course, but then there is also alcoholism and depression and things like that.  You asked why did I want to do this project, why did I apply to be a Fulbrighter?  Really it is exceptionally rare as a photographer to have a chance to spend a year working on a project that interests us and Fulbright is an amazing opportunity in that way.

Lee: Talk to us a little about your project, you said that you were taking photographs and doing interviews.  What does that look like, I am sure every day was a little bit different than the next, but what was sort of a typical day like for you, Michael?

Michael: Let my start to answer your question by talking about where I chose to live.  I chose to live in the village of Suconshe (spelling).  What I did on a day-to-day basis was just sort of constantly be asking my neighbors essentially what was going on, what were they doing, could I come talk to them.  Once I has established some sort of trust and also a better sense of the daily pace of the village, then I really started taking pictures of people, following them around, and it was not long before I felt like everyone in the village knew who I was.  My goal really in the project is to convey what daily life is like in the Chernobyl area.  Too often, photographers who go into Chernobyl, they drop in, they think the story is a tragic story, so they take pictures of kids with birth defects, and abandoned buildings.  That is a piece of the story but only a small piece.  Life is still going on in this area.  What I want people to understand, who see my photography project, is that social and economic problems today are much severe, in the Chernobyl area, than radiation.      

Lee: So, Michael, if you will, just briefly describe a highlight from your experience.  What is something that really sticks out in your mind when you think back on your year abroad?

Michael: Well, one thing that happened during my year abroad that that I an opportunity to do a big photography exhibit in Kiev, and then take that exhibit to the city of Sovolovitch (spelling) where the people who work at Chernobyl live.  I was delighted when I was given this opportunity to do a big exhibit and it meant completely changing my plans for the year.  I ended up spending, basically, the middle four-months of my year photographing and then preparing this exhibit. 

Lee: So, Michael you sent me a couple of audio clips here.  If you could just take a minute and set up this audio clip, kind of talk about who we are hearing from in this clip and talk about the significance of it.

Michael: Yea it is part of my project and I did a lot of interviews but I also tried to get other sounds, background sounds, and people singing, that sort of thing.  So, this is Ilya Danilyof (Spelling) he lives in Slivotitch, (Spelling) his father works at Chernobyl plant, so Ilya has grown up in the town where one in six people work at Chernobyl.  He wants to be a musician, and he is kind of torn because he realizes that to be a musician he is going to have to leave the town where he lives, but he also does not want to leave that town.  So, he played me this song, which is about living in a small town.

Lee: Fantastic, So what the audience hears in the background is a short clip from that audio piece.  Michael, you mentioned that you have a website, how can people see your photos and learn more about the work that you did?

Michael: Yea, I am just putting together now a website which is www.afterchernobyl.com .  The most important part to me is that it is an interactive website.  I am really trying to get people to put their own comments in.  The goal of my Fulbright project is not just to have an exhibit where people look at the pictures but it is to start a dialogue. 

Lee: Just in closing here, what advice would you give to those who are listening right now to you, and thinking about applying this next October?

Michael: I guess, my advice to people that are applying for Fulbrights is that it is rather important to be sure what you want to study and have a plan of what you want to do before you start.  But you should also be prepared for things to change once you get wherever you are going, because there will be problems and new opportunities.  Just as you adapt to the culture and learn what is realistic and not realistic, it is important to stay flexible.  Another piece of advice that I would give is that it is really important to get to know the people around you.  Fulbright, at its core, is an exchange program, and it is really important to learn from the people around you,

Lee: That is all the time that we have today, Michael, I just want to thank you once again, for taking time out of your schedule to chat with me about your experience.

Michael:  It was great, Lee, to talk to you! I definitely think it is worth applying for.

Lee: Most definitely, well that is all the time that we have today.  I just wanted to thank you guys for tuning in, and this concludes this episode of My Fulbright Life. Goodbye.