Nuclear Towns: The Secret War in the American West: Carol Gallagher

About the Exhibition

An exhibition of photographic portraits and text excerpted from oral histories taken by Salt Lake City photographer Carol Gallagher from citizens of Utah, Nevada and Arizona affected by fallout from nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site.  These downwind people are presently dying of radiogenic cancer, have lost loved ones, or have been born with birth defects from genetic mutation.  Directly in the path of intensely radioactive fission products from open-air and underground detonations of nuclear weaponry, they were consistently told there was “no danger” and even encouraged to “participate in a moment in history” by witnessing these bombs and the fallout clouds drifting over their homes.  To set their experiences in perspective, Olivia Ward of the Toronto Star wrote a concise history of these people and the testing program to augment the photographs and interviews by Carol Gallagher.  The exhibition included fifteen portraits with accompanying excerpted interviews by the photographer.