I just received my copies of Black & White Magazine 2014 Special Issue, and am excited to see that my image When I Light A Torch has been recognized as a winner in the Architecture/Interiors category. This issue will be available at newsstands in mid-December.
The image was made this year in the city of Pripyat, Ukraine in the Chernobyl Zone of Exclusion. When I saw this dilapidated piano set against a huge wall of decay I knew I had to make a photo. After making the first test print I became interested in the crumbling sculpture at the left. The words still standing look like “Lucendo aliis kror” With the clue of the statue with the torch it seems related to the Latin phrase “Lucendo aliis ego ipse ardeo” translated by some as “When I light a torch for others, I myself catch fire” thus the title for the photo. Of course I could be totally offbase, because half the relief is completely gone, I don’t speak Russian, and I’m not sure how “kror” would be interpreted by a native speaker.
So if you can provide any insight please drop me an email.