The Brennillis Plant, A Nuclear Ghost at the Gates of Hell

Abstract

The following is an excerpt from our ongoing project on the Brennilis plant in the Monts d’Arrée in Finistère, France, which has been a nuclear ghost since 1985. The project combines photography, interviews, and philosophical reflections. It aims to show how the myths and legends of Brittany (France) overlap with the lifeworlds of inhabitants around the Brennilis plant in an effort to highlight the impact nuclear technology has on its surrounding area. We juxtapose this documentation with sociological, philosophical, and literary reflections. In converging these elements the project combines each aspect to create something new altogether. Our approach is echoed by the use of Lomography, a photographic technique that admits flaws and blurs, heavy vignettes, unusual lightening, apparitions and tinctures, illuminating those haunting aspects and ghostly traces in lived environments less obvious to the unmediated eye. As typical with all ghostly matters, ours is a work still in progress.