After us – silence | Remnants of nuclear deterence
For more than 40 years, Europe lived under the nuclear threat of the Cold War. For the ‘Remnants of deterrence’ project, historian Arnold Pronk and photographer Martin Bruining travelled to the places where Soviet nuclear missiles were once located. From the far north in Russia near Murmansk to Crimea in the south, these forgotten sites are scattered as one long, continuous chain.
After Us – Silence is more than a photo book. It paints a picture of the Cold War, it shows how great the threat actually was and it gives an insight into the evolution of the various weapons systems. Complemented by stories of chance encounters, interviews with former soldiers who worked at the missile bases and travel anecdotes, the reader gets the chance to travel with them through the countries of the former Soviet Union; a unique insight into a hidden world, which everyone knew was there, but no one knew where and what it actually looked like.
The book’s design is a mix of a photo book and a documentary book, with text and images interlocking to further enhance this effect. The colour choice of the cover, together with the use of spot UV, gives the book an almost nuclear look.
Author: Arnold Pronk
Photography: Martin Bruining
Publisher: Lecturis