I use the uranotype process to create radioactive prints of locations identified as nuclear targets in the Atomic Weapons Requirements Study for 1959. Produced by the US Strategic Air Command in 1956, this document remains the most comprehensive record of Cold War nuclear targets ever declassified, listing over 4,500 coordinates across the Soviet Union, China, and Eastern Europe.
I travel to these identified targets across China, documenting them through photography and my printing practice. Many have undergone dramatic transformations, turning from industrial sites into venues for sports, art, and recreation. These seemingly mundane landscapes are, in fact, sites marked by deep historical trauma—legacies of imperialism, Cold War tension, and China’s evolving identity.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Beihua Guo is a visual artist working in photography, video, and installation. His work investigates how histories are remembered, buried, or erased, particularly in landscapes marked by colonialism, extraction, and displacement.
