NO LONE ZONE
by Adam Reynolds

portfolio shortlisted call 'EXTINCTION. THE WORLD WITHOUT US', 2019

At the height of the Cold War, the United States deployed thousands of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) in a network of underground complexes across the American landscape. These nuclear weapons made up one part of America’s vast deterrent force as it faced off against its ideological rival, the Soviet Union, until its collapse in 1992. And as the Cold War itself has faded from memory, so too have the lessons and fears these weapons once elicited in the general public. Yet the issue of unchecked nuclear proliferation has returned that fear to the forefront.

With much of America’s Cold War-era nuclear arsenal deactivated and dismantled today, there are a growing number of former missile sites whose mission is to preserve the history and memory of the period. These frozen time capsules are open to the public, catering to an array of nostalgic “nuclear tourists.” As “Shrines to an Armageddon,” they preserve the dramatic vestiges of a power that can destroy the world. The sites stand sentinel as potent reminders of American military might, but also serve as a cautionary tale for future generations.

Two such sites, the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site in South Dakota and the Titan Missile Museum in Arizona, are the only remaining ICBM sites in the United States that not only allow visitors into the underground launch control center, but also to come face to face with a (nonfunctioning) intercontinental ballistic missile as well.

The project’s title refers to the Air Force’s mandatory two-person buddy system in place at all ICBM sites. This applied both to the on-duty officers on 24-hour alert in the launch control center and to the work crews tasked with maintaining the missiles. The policy was intended as a safety precaution and as a safeguard against potential sabotage. The images pair America’s most prolific ICBM (the Minuteman II) with its most powerful (the Titan II) and offer a calculated look at the nuts and bolts of Mutually Assured Destruction, the mad logic behind nuclear deterrence.


share this page
   also from EXTINCTION. THE WORLD WITHOUT US
call
EXTINCTION. OR THE WORLD WITHOUT US?
portfolio
In Memory of North
Clare Benson
portfolio
98 objects found in earthlings basements
Kris Vervaeke
portfolio
Atomic Overlook
Clay Lipsky
portfolio
The Planet's Black Plague
Gioia Kuss
portfolio
SEULES LES ÉTOILES RESTERONT
Thomas Gauthier
portfolio
CIVILTÀ UMANA (2018/2019)
Nicola Di Giorgio
portfolio
Sicilia Fantasma
Pietro Motisi
portfolio
Suffocation
Marina Istomina
portfolio
false vacuum decay
Nick Teplov
portfolio
Sand Castles
Markel Redondo
portfolio
Cyanotypes of a trashworld
Miltiadis Igglezos
portfolio
Conditions for an Unfinished Work of Mourning: Wretched Yew
Dawn Roe
portfolio
how lonely, to be a marsh
Madeline Cass
portfolio
The precipice
Nicola Avanzinelli
portfolio
Flipside Emissions
Eva Kraljic
portfolio
The Last Man on Earth
Joan Alvado
portfolio
Stripped of the earth
Fleur Jakobs
portfolio
Mementomo
Giovanni Emilio Galanello
portfolio
Time took the rest
Luca Tavera
portfolio
Matter
Sophie Dumaresq
portfolio
Unmanned Pigeons
Roberto Vito D'Amico
portfolio
Shivers
Sébastien Arrighi
portfolio
The Black Well
Grigoris Digkas
portfolio
La Pennétrie
Charles Bouchaïb
portfolio
Fragile
Andrea Buzzichelli
portfolio
M.O.O.N : Mysterious Orbital Object Non-identifield. A new vision of the planet
Elberg Sandrine
portfolio
'84
Georg Katstaller
portfolio
Hong Kong 2047
Quang Lam
portfolio
Turistica
Carlo Rusca
portfolio
A Peculiar and Dangerous Convenience
Rosie Barnes
portfolio
Slow Violence
abel picogna
portfolio
The World In One Place
Hans Wilschut
portfolio
Inner Vision
Josh Lord
portfolio
A world without latitude and longitude
Ivan MURZIN
portfolio
MUNDUS
Sarab Collective
portfolio
Mato Grosso
Raquel Bravo Iglesias
portfolio
Sound Mirrors-' Portraits
Piercarlo Quecchia
portfolio
CACHE
Stefania Orfanidou
portfolio
Hypermnesia
Mauro Fiorito
portfolio
The Western Lands
Steve Davis
portfolio
Terra incognita
Spiros Zervoudakis
portfolio
Before Your Very Eyes
Francesca Gotti
portfolio
Frozen Rooms
Elba collective
portfolio
MINE_IRA
Jennifer Cabral
portfolio
Prophetic Kingdom
Martin Buday
portfolio
When smoke dissipates
Soti Tyrologou
portfolio
A journey to Thekla and Moriana
Lorenzo Leone
portfolio
Originally
Gaëtan Chevrier
portfolio
Anthroposcenic Archive
Christina Capetillo
portfolio
EXTINCTION ISN'T A GOOD TITLE
Sara Nicomedi
portfolio
Inherent direction
Katinka Igelberg
portfolio
The Ocean of Plastics
Betty Manousos
portfolio
Dubai
Manuel Alvarez Diestro
portfolio
Twilight Island
Leslie Hakim-Dowek
portfolio
We All Live Downwind
Shanna Merola
portfolio
The other Red Desert, a place of 'Microworlds'
Alessio Pellicoro
portfolio
The Flood
Francesco Merlini
portfolio
Into the Anthropocene
David Gardner
portfolio
TERRADEFORMAÇÃO
Henriique
portfolio
Out the Window
Garrett Williams
portfolio
BOX ASSEMBLY
Libera Mazzoleni
portfolio
We are constantly on trial
Cristian Ordóñez
portfolio
Resistere
Nazzareno - Sergio Berton - Carlesso
portfolio
Hello Dolly!
Giovanni Presutti
portfolio
Malagrotta
Gian Marco Sanna
portfolio
Walking
Michele Vittori
portfolio
Vinewood
Davide Galandini
portfolio
Saeta
Curro Rodriguez Sanchez
portfolio
Suburban Symbiosis: Silent Extinction
Daniel Kariko
portfolio
Post Encounters
Tal Ben Avi
portfolio
LAST DAYS
Joaquin Palting