Which, to me, is the important part of the "Ghost Town" photo essay.

OK, so the woman (and apparently, her husband) cooked up a fictional - one might say romantic, in the old usage - backstory for how the photos were taken. I don't mind admitting to being sucked in, my disbelief willingly suspended, so that I didn't question the plausibility of the solo motorcycle quest. Sometimes, we lovers of dark fantasy, dystopic novels and cyberpunk want to believe.

Those photographs, however, could not have been faked. Staged: yes, a few. Artfully arranged: like the artifacts in the apartment, probably... but the raw material, the abandoned cities and countryside, the instant permanent disruption of thousands of lives - that's real.

No agenda required. Doesn't matter if you're pro- or anti-nuke, for or against Soviet-style management of science or industry. Chernobyl happened.