In the series Project 596, we see photographs of a damaged landscape in China which was used as a nuclear test site. French photographer, Florian Ruiz, explores photography by depicting distortions of the invisible danger of radioactivity with techniques such as assemblage and collage. In this way, he brings together various fragments in one image. "The question I had as a photographer was: how do you portray this invisible danger of radioactivity?"

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While living in Tokyo, Florian Ruiz decided to visit the nuclear plant after the Fukushima disaster on 11 March 2011. "I didn't want to take a journalistic approach, so I used a pinhole camera to distort the images to show the disturbing familiarity of the world.

The question I had as a photographer was: How do you portray this invisible danger of radioactivity? I decided to explore the medium of photography which involves using a digital process of superimposing image fragments to photograph the distortion of the presence of radiation in the landscape. The transparency effects, the broken perspectives give rise to a shape that is in motion. This process reinvents and twists the very landscape, leading to a sort of vertigo or malaise, a threatening danger hidden behind the landscapes. I want to show an invisible presence that affects reality."

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In the project, The White Contamination, you see snowy landscapes of Fukushima. Inspired by Japanese engravings, I depict the ever-changing perceptions of nature, where radiation accumulates the most."

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Lob Nor

Lob Nor, now a salt-covered lake bed, is a former salt-lake in Xinjiang that has been partially swallowed by the desert. The area was used as a test site for Chinese underground and atmospheric nuclear explosions for over 30 years. Forty-five atomic tests were carried out underground and above-ground. Many years later, China recognised the health problems these experiments have caused in the country, particularly, these health issues were caused by radiation exposure from these nuclear tests. The region is still highly radioactive. In his Project 596, Florian Ruiz focused on the traces of the past. This series contains images of desolate landscapes and a ghost town with abandoned cars, formerly occupied apartment buildings, empty factories and other places where radioactive contamination still hangs around.

Florian Ruiz: "There was a ban on photographing in the region, and I was arrested on the edge of the Lob Nuur salt desert. Later, I realised that this area had been used as a military nuclear test site for more than 30 years. So I decided to go back to carry out Project 596. I want to document man's relationship with nature by showing the invisible dangers of the ever-present radioactive contamination. Therefore, I want to show desolate and aesthetic landscapes. Lob Nuur is an abandoned area and in which nothing remains. I want to show the contrast between the purity of the colours and the beauty of the landscapes and the presence of the invisible contamination."
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Project 596

The first Chinese atomic bomb test in 1964 had the code name 'Project 596', hence the title Project 596. Florian Ruiz named his photographs after the measurement of radioactive contamination. "With a Geiger counter, I measured the presence of radioactive radiation in becquerels (Bq), a unit that expresses the disintegration of atoms and the number of mutations per second. The title of each photo is the measurement of radioactive contamination. By scientifically revealing the remaining radioactivity, my project simultaneously has the value of a documentary photo series. Radioactive contamination is a degradation and mutation of the atom. I do the same with my images. I break up the images into fragments and compose a distorted landscape. The transparency effects and the broken perspectives give rise to a form that is in motion. This process twists the landscape, which leads to a kind of dizziness or a feeling of malaise. You can see an imminent danger lurking behind the landscapes."
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Places and atmospheres

After studying law and history, Florian Ruiz wanted to express his humanist commitment through photography. He became influenced by  Sebastiāo Salgado and Raymond Depardon. "I realised what desperate subjects there are in society, characterised by disillusionment."

Another influence is the cinematic atmospheric work of William Eggleston. Furthermore, the works of New Topographics were an essential inspiration, but painting influenced him the most after all. "For me, photography is a medium to represent places and atmospheres, documenting my feelings about abandoned locations. My approach lies at the crossroads of social, cultural, documentary and artistic. I want to explore the world against the stream of the globalised image. I look into the shadows of the exposed subjects in which I capture special moments. In this way, I try to create a unique photographic language that renews the field of storytelling."

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I work as a documentary maker but treat my images with an artistic approach.

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Music and abstraction

Florian Ruiz is looking for a balance between a documentary and an aesthetic approach. "I work as a documentary maker but treat my images with an artistic approach. Art can sometimes lead to a deeper reality. I aim to seek to interrogate photography by distorting the image to reveal what is not visible. My work is imbued with shamanistic and animistic thoughts from the Japanese regions. In this project, I want to question the representation of the real and the invisible in landscape photography by invoking what is destined for the imagination and what is destined for the eye. Music occupies a large place in my photography because it accompanies me permanently during my projects. In my images, I try to approach a representation of reality that might lead to abstraction."

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Florian Ruiz's work, 'The White Contamination', has won several awards, including the Sony World Photography Award, Felix Schoeller Award, Talent Award and Art Photography Award. His work is represented by The Sit Down Gallery in Paris.
www.florianruiz.photoshelter.com

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