Photographs of the Zone

"PRZ" stands for "Photo Realistic Zone". PRZ is an artistic project of a virtual photographic report into the virtual Zone from the STALKER video games. The wandering into the wild territories is done with an aesthetic -but still journalistic- approach, in order to capture the daily life and the singular beauty of the Zone. All the framings, the compositions and the exposures are made ingame, and none of the screenshots are edited in some way.

[przone]

A mercenaries outpost in the north-western part of the Army Warehouses area. Mercenaries sometimes patrol the northern roads, but they are likely to be eliminated by Freedomers on their way.

[przone]

A safe passage to Limansk from the Red Forest area. For a long time no one heard anything about that town. This secret research city, abandoned by its former inhabitants, is now an empty place. Many folks don't believe Limansk ever existed. Only they're lying: the town exists.

[przone]

The Agroprom Underground is a collection of heavily contaminated tunnels and rooms beneath the Agroprom Research Institute. After the Zone was "born", the Institute was abandoned, although none of its equipment or archives were removed or destroyed, especially in the underground sections. 

[przone]

A daily small blow-Out in Zaton area. Blow-Out is a sudden and powerful release of excess noosphere energy from the center of the Zone. When C-Consciousness learned how to control the energy of the noosphere, with control came a price - the energy was so immense that they had to periodically release the excess, lest they be overwhelmed by it.

[przone]

During a blow-out, noosphere energy floats from the center of the Zone to the outskirts in a circular pattern, affecting the minds and bodies of the living.

[przone]

(*)  This small and discreet bunker, west of the Rookie Village, belongs to a trader known as Sidorovich. The man trades wares, weaponry, ammunition, information and whatnot from his underground shelter and there is a common saying amongst Stalkers that if Sidorovich can't complete your shopping list, no one in the Zone can.

[przone]

Sidorovich was one of the first people to enter the Zone, arriving in 2007. He is known throughout the Zone and the underground market for being the only reliable connection to the Zone from the outside world. He handles nearly all of his business in the bunker, saying that he's not the fighting type and won't survive long outside.

[przone]

“The reason I've survived in this place as long as I have is that I always keep my word. You screw a client in this place, and you're pretty likely to find a knife in your back real quick.” - Sidorovich

[przone]

(*) The Bandits are raiders and marauders who came to the Zone for different reasons: to make money by selling artifacts, hide from the law or trade in weapons.

[przone]

(*) My guide has been shot dead. I don’t know what happened. We were taking pictures of the collapsed bridge in the Cordon,  when I heard a very distant gunshot and almost immediately, the sound of my friend falling to the ground. I know only one kind of people capable of doing such a long-range shot, and there are no stalkers. Tomorow I’ll go in Agropom and have a little chat with the military.

[przone]

This old barge in Zaton’s swamps, which has been called Noah's Ark by every Stalkers of the Zone, is the home of a paranoid hermit named Noah. He build this refuge because of a prophecy about a "wave" which will be in the form of a large emission and a subsequent horde of mutants who will kill everyone who isn't prepared for it.

[przone]

Many people talk about Oasis but it seems that nobody has ever seen it. It's like healing waters. If you walk in, your wounds heal and your energy is replenished. There are many rumors making the rounds, one more incredible than the next... Some claim to have seen it in their dreams... but as a journalist I am obliged to ask, "How do you know it really was the Oasis?"

[przone]

Some Stalkers believe that within the centre of the Zone lies a place called Oasis .

Beliefs about Oasis vary from Stalker to Stalker and bandit to bandit. It all depends on who you ask. Some Stalkers believe that within Oasis is a pool of healing water, instantly curing disease and mending wounds. Others believe that Oasis is a trove of artifacts. Some bandits claim that their friends were the people who set up Oasis as a giant scam for money. Most simply believe that it doesn't exist.

[przone]

A sturdy bunker at Lake Yantar, filled with scientific apparatuses and a steady supply of weapons and ammunition.

Originally the Ukrainian Military itself protected the scientists' bunker, but their garrison force was all but obliterated by emissions of the Miracle Machine in lab X16, turning the survivors into zombies.

[przone]

An ecologist bodyguard keeps an eye on a scientist in the Yantar area.

Operating under orders from the Ukrainian government, the Ecologists are a group focusing on researching the Zone, using scientific methods to further explain what the Zone is, and its purpose.

[przone]

The Forester is an original resident of the Chernobyl area, who lived there long before the 1986 incident. He made a living as a park ranger in the Wormwood Forest (currently western Red Forest), alternating between tracking down poachers and guiding field trips. When the Chernobyl power plant exploded, he refused to be evacuated and stayed behind.

He has an unique relationship with the Zone, as he seems to be able to always find his way through anomalies and can peacefully coexist with its creations.

[przone]

While less touched by mutation physically, as compared to other mutants, the Boars of the Zone have developed serious taste for human flesh and far superior intelligence. The animals' hooves have changed in shape and become sharper, acquiring a resemblance to claws; their pupils have become colorless and pigmentation disorders and deep wrinkles have appeared on their bald heads. They have also grown an extra pair of tusks which are easily recognized.