• A boy is seen with his favorite pet -- a green lizard, on his shoulder in the village of Hornostaipil. Some few km from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.
  • Members of an Ukrainian family part of local folklore group are holding an adapted musical instruments that originally were used as an appliance to wash clothes in the ancient times in Ukraine. Village of Hornostaipil some few km from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.
  • An elderly man is standing in his house on the offshore of the Kiev "sea". Village of Strakholisiya, some few km from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.
  • A local man plays an accordion. Village of Hornostaipil, some few km from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.
  • A wallpaper showing the Black Sea in Sevastopol is seen in a local coffee bar in the neighborhood of Bucha, some few km from the Kiev "Sea" some few km from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.
  • Romantic picnics and fishing are common favorite pastime for many people who call the Kiev "Sea" -Chernobyl Riviera. Village of Sukholchchya, some few km from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.
  • Local Ukrainian school girls dressed in traditional Ukrainian folklore costumes. Village of Hornostaipil, some few km from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.
  • A woman shows the fish she just caught in Kiev "Sea" waters. Village of Yasnohorodka, some few km from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.
  • Portrait of an Ukrainian school girls during an annual celebration for the end of the 2011-2012 Academic year. Some few km from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.
  • A woman is washing dishes in the local school, village of Strakholisiya, some few km from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.
  • Boys are fishing in the Kiev "Sea" waters. Some few km from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.
  • Most of the people who use to live in the region of the Kiev "Sea" prior the tragic catastrophe in Chernobyl Nuclear Plant on 26 April 1986, started to come back to their abandoned homes few years ago. Most of them are living in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital and are coming to their homes once or twice a week. Usually they are taking water in plastic bottles from the region of their villages around the Kiev Sea and bringing it back in KIev for daily consummation believing that this water is more clean than the one in Kiev. Village of Sukholuchchya, some few km from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.
  • The water, which is coming from the Kiev "Sea" is used by the local people for irrigation for fruit and vegetable production, as well as for watering the flowers and daily needs. Жillage of Sukholuchchya, some few km from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.
  • A local Ukrainian man is showing his tattoo, which shows the border lines of the former Soviet Union and reads “CCCP” (USSR) in the village of Hornostaipil, some few km from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.
  • On the road. Somewhere around the "Kiev Sea".
  • An elderly woman is selling the potatoes ?he grows herself in the village of Yasnohorodka, some km from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.
  • Swans can be seen painted on many different places around the entire region of Chernobyl 30km exclusive Zone today. Once before the tragic accident in the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant the swans were regular guests in the Kiev "Sea" waters. Some few km from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.
  • A child is playing near the Kiev "Sea" in the village of Sukholuchchya, some few kilometers from the Chernobyl Power Plant, Ukraine.
  • Women are celebrating the day of the Orthodox Pentecost, Christian holiday in the village of of Hornostaipil, Some few km from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.
  • A boy is seen in his home in the village of Hubyn, some few meters from the border of Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.
  • The bus which arrives from Kiev to the village of Strakholisiya once a day is seen prior leaving to Kiev. Some few km from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.
Boryana Katsarova

Water Stories / Kiev "Sea"

Water Stories / Kiev "Sea" is a documentary story about the human dreams and the changed reality both originated in and stimulated by the Slavic self-consciousness, the soil of Eastern Orthodoxy people and the tragical catastrophe that struck Ukraine's Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on 26 April,1986 and caused the worst nuclear disaster  in human history. The consequences of this nuclear accident resulted in heavy environmental catastrophe and resettlement of at least 350,000 people away from these areas. Despite of it all, many people stayed to live in and around the Exclusion Zone of Chernobyl and many are returning at “home” today.Water was the thread connecting the places I visited. I looked for the direct and indirect presence of the water as the symbol of life everywhere around me. I was trying to focus on the person and to tell like the general story about the water and the connection people and nature have with it, while discovering that romantic picnics, baths and fishing are common favorite pastime for many Ukrainian people who call the Kiev “Sea” “Chernobyl Riviera”.            

Boryana Katsarova, born in Bulgaria in 1981, is a freelance photographer specializing in documentary, editorial and portrait photography. Her work is represented by the Paris based Cosmos Photo Agency. She used to work for Agence France-Presse covering the region of Bulgaria during the period 2007-2010. Her work appeared in the world largest newspapers, magazines and online publications as International NYTimes, Le Monde, Le Figaro, Paris Match, Der Spiegel, Boston Globe, USA Today National Geographic, Guardian, amongst many others. She graduated "Fine Art and Photography" at the NATFA (National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts), Sofia, Bulgaria.