‘It is very difficult to choose a favorite photograph. It is always something of a lottery and depends greatly on your mood. This is the kind of photograph that does not really stand out at first, but that you come to appreciate more and more over time. Conversely, a photograph that leaps off the page at first glance often becomes tiresome after a while because of its one-dimensional character.’
‘Taken in Ukraine in 2005, the photograph has something timeless and universal about it. All kinds of things are happening at once, yet it is very difficult to define. The couple in the car are hopelessly drunk; the others are no longer bothered by my presence and are mainly absorbed in themselves. The photograph captures the prevailing mood very well.’
‘The underlying reality, of course, was that the river and the ground where the young people were enjoying their Sunday afternoon were radioactively contaminated. A few hundred meters farther on was the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, established after the 1986 explosion; at the time, access was prohibited.’
- Name: Robert Knoth (1963)
- Based in (at the time of publication): Amsterdam
- Portfolio: Getty Images, The New York Times, Stern, La Repubblica, NRC Magazine, and Volkskrant
- Info: www.robertknoth.com
