Hidden depths
They loom out of the mist and snow. Part industrial wreckage, part monument to a future that never was, the relics in the photographs of Danila Tkachenko are otherworldly artefacts. For [Restricted Areas](http://www.danilatkachenko.com/projects/restricted-areas/), the 25-year-old Russian prowled around places that were off-limits in the former Soviet Union. The project – which [won the 2015 European Publishers Award for Photography](http://www.europhotobookaward.eu/2015-winner) – features images of abandoned oil fields, mining towns and military bases as well as ‘secret cities’ that can’t be found on maps. This image shows the world’s largest diesel submarine. (Credit: Danila Tkachenko)
Toxic history
“In 2011 I went to visit my grandmother. She lives in a city named Ozyorsk. It is a closed city, where some of the first Soviet nuclear bombs were produced,” Tkachenko tells BBC Culture, explaining what inspired him to start the project. “In 1957 there was a catastrophic accident, which was kept secret, and the city is surrounded by lakes which are still contaminated with nuclear radiation. This story deeply impressed me; it shows how harmful technological progress can be to humans.” One of Tkachenko’s photos shows a water contamination test at the city; this one captures former residential buildings in a deserted polar scientific town that specialised in biological research. (Credit: Danila Tkachenko)
Reach for the moon
This photo reveals different stages in the life of a space rocket. Tkachenko was awarded first prize in the Staged Portraits category of the 2014 World Press Photo Contest for Escape, images of men who have withdrawn from society. He believes the two projects are linked. “In the Escape project I show the hermits, people who ran away from technological progress. In Restricted Areas, I am criticising that progress.” (Credit: Danila Tkachenko)
In a fog
Many of the relics in Tkachenko’s photos – like this deserted observatory – are shrouded in mist. “I was working on the project in the winters of 2013 and 2014, and was shooting only in certain weather which I had to wait for,” he says. “I wanted to create a certain distance for the spectator. It is a symbol of emptiness, as if nothing exists apart from these objects. For me it is a metaphor of a post-apocalyptic future.” (Credit: Danila Tkachenko)
Digging up the past
The photos in Restricted Areas suggest an alternative vision of recent history. By looking at these pictures, Tkachenko believes, “we can imagine one possible future and look at it in an abstracted way.” He [has compared himself to an archaeologist](http://www.bjp-online.com/2015/02/danila-tkachenko-restricted-areas/) “encountering the traces of a past civilisation in order to understand the reasons why we create these objects.” This image shows the Bartini Beriev VVA-14, [designed as a vertical take-off amphibious aircraft](http://www.businessinsider.com/soviet-unions-bartini-beriev-vva-14-plane-2015-1) that could skim the surface of the water and defend against US nuclear submarines. Only two prototypes were made and the aircraft took its first flight in 1972, but the project was later scrapped. (Credit: Danila Tkachenko)
Star wars
“Humans are always trying to own more than they have,” says Tkachenko. “Better, higher, stronger: these ideals often express the main ideology of the governments; for these goals they are ready to sacrifice almost everything.” That ambition can go beyond our own planet: this image shows ‘antennae built for interplanetary connection’. According to the photographer, “The Soviet Union was planning to build bases on other planets, and prepared facilities for connection which were never used and are deserted now.” In a state of ruin, the buildings and wreckages in Tkachenko’s photos reveal much about the people who built them. “Any progress comes to its end sooner or later, it can happen due to different reasons – nuclear war, economic crisis or natural disaster… For me it’s interesting to witness what is left after.” Restricted Areas will be published in English [by Dewi Lewis Publishing](http://www.dewilewis.com/) later in 2015. (Credit: Danila Tkachenko)