David Fathi, ANECDOTAL, 2015

In our collective unconscious the nuclear age is synonymous with the explosion of two atom bombs. Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But since 1945 it has been documented that more than 2,000 nuclear bombs have been detonated on Earth. Since the end of the Second World War, countries with nuclear powers methodically bombed their own lands.

Self mutilation in the name of self defense.

This series’ starting point is the unfamiliar stories and anecdotes around nuclear armament and testing programs. Mixing archival photos, satellite imagery, packshots and road-trip photos, David Fathi has tried re-contextualizing a history wavering between a horrific investigation and an absurd farce.

All that is documented here is true, but seems to be from a work of bad fiction. We find stories of contaminated ministers, bombs lost and never found, the power struggles between colonial powers and local populations, the invention of the bikini and vaporized chickens.

By documenting and illustrating these unfamiliar narratives, maybe it’s possible to rethink our reality and the dissonance between the world we believe we live in and the one we have actually built.

Shortlisted for the Author Book Award in Arles 2015