Remember the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011? Well, now photographer Keow Wee Loong is back, and has explored a number of towns within the Fukushima exclusion zone. While it remains to be seen whether he’s developed superpowers, he did develop some photos of the eerie towns, completely abandoned and frozen in time.
Immediately after the disaster, towns and cities were swiftly evacuated and a 12.5 mile “red zone” was established around the site of the disaster. Apparently, it takes three to four weeks to obtain a permit to enter this zone, which Keow didn’t have the patience for, and snuck in instead to capture some epic material to furnish his Instagram account with.
Fortunately, Keow was in fact aware that radiation is dangerous, and so limited his time for exploring all four towns in the exclusion zone, which presumably is why he now doesn’t shoot webs from his hands, has stretchy limbs, or turns green when he’s angry (though perhaps he’s just naturally calm).
Armed with a gas mask and a pair of cargo shorts (well known for their radiation protection properties), the Malaysian photographer began wandering through the modern-day equivalent of Chernobyl, taking some creepy photos along the way…
Almost everything you see in these pictures were left exactly was they were five years ago – the only disturbances are from the wild animals that visit the supermarket to stock up on Listerine and read the porn mags.
Despite only being able to spend a few hours in the exclusion zone, Keow still found some time to do the laundry.
No word yet on whether Keow found any Pokémon in the red zone – the hunt for the elusive MewTwo continues….
Don’t forget to check out more of Keow’s photography at his Facebook page!
Image credits: Keow Wee Loong