It’s Monday again, and in the light of all that is happening in Europe (Who knows, we might be heading for WWIII if we don’t watch out…) I thought to look towards Ukraine for a Memento Mori. The Chernobyl Disaster might not lie too fresh in our generation’s memory, but it’s remnants are all the more haunting for it…
Is there a more poignant Vanitas picture than an abandoned town? This is a place where death has passed; this is what it left behind. These places were once part of the daily life of people. Ordinary people for the most part; they didn’t do anything of great importance, they were no different from you or me… And now they are gone. The world remember the disaster, but who remembers them?
It is rather humbling to realize how unimportant we all are. Our daily life, our troubles, our hopes, our personalities… All of it will be erased for ever, in time. In a hundred years, our world might be a picture in a history book… in the best case. Everything we consider normal now will be obsolete or forgotten, and we… we will be gone. We don’t leave anything behind.
We are transient beings. We pass through and leave nothing behind.
Photos by photographer Sil Van Diepen: http://silvandiepen.deviantart.com
For more eery pictures and beautiful musings, I would recommend everyone to read the journal of Elena’s motorcycle ride through Chernobyl, at http://www.kiddofspeed.com. I didn’t take pictures from her site on purpose; they have much more impact accompanied by her own words.
