Abbey Hepner, Transuranic photographs
Abbey Hepner’s Transuranic series includes images of every nuclear site in the Western United States that sends radioactive waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Waste stored in this facility in southern New Mexico is buried deep in the earth and is intended to rest for 10,000 years. Hepner printed her photographs using uranium salts instead of gelatin silver technology, resulting in photographs that are radioactive. Hepner's work underscores the hidden consequences associated with radioactive technology in our daily lives and on the unassuming landscape.
Abbey Hepner
born 1983 Moscow, Idaho; lives Troy, Illinois
Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico,
Radioactive waste shipped to WIPP: 2,424,143 Gallons
2014
uranotype (uranium print)
9 x 13 in.
lent by the artist, © 2020 Abbey Hepner
photo courtesy of the artist
Abbey Hepner
born 1983 Moscow, Idaho; lives Troy, Illinois
Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge, Arvada, Colorado,
Radioactive waste shipped to WIPP: 3,978,943 Gallons
2014
uranotype (uranium print)
9 x 13 in.
lent by the artist, © 2020 Abbey Hepner
photo courtesy of the artist
Transuranic Installation View, Cold War Era Geiger Counter and Digital Consumer Geiger Counter
Print from installation: Nevada National Security Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Radioactive waste shipped to WIPP: 405.37 m3 (107,087 Gallons), 9"x13", uranotype, 2014
The clicking of the geiger counters in this video confirms that Hepner’s prints are indeed radioactive.