In the days of duck-and-cover drills and atomic anxiety, many families bought space in bomb shelters, stocking and decorating their possible nuclear homes. Richard Ross’s photographs capture the abandoned shelters and what some families planned to take to the apocalypse.
Ross’s book Waiting for the End of the World contains photographs and accounts of bomb shelters from across America, Europe, and Asia. Below are photos from just a few of those shelters: shelters in Sanpete and Salt Lake City, Utah, the Phillip Hoag and Charlie Hull Shelters in Emigrant, Montana, oil tycoon’s Ling Chieh Kung’s shelter in Conroe, Texas, and a public shelter near Zurich.
Picture Show: Waiting for the End of the World [GOOD Magazine via Presurfer]
Kitchen in shelter in Sanpete, Utah
Entrance to shelter in Sanpete, Utah
Storage Shelves in Sanpete, Utah
Entrance to shelter in Salt Lake City, Utah
Traverse tunnel in shelter in Salt Lake City, Utah
Entrance to Phillip Hoag Shelter in Emigrant, Montana
Communications tower for Phillip Hoag Shelter in Emigrant, Montana
Entrance to Kung’s shelter in Conroe, Texas
Jail cells in Kung’s shelter in Conroe, Texas
Operating room in Kung’s shelter in Conroe, Texas
Bedroom in Charlie Hull Shelter in Emigrant, Montana
Bedroom in Charlie Hull Shelter in Emigrant, Montana
Living room in Charlie Hull Shelter in Emigrant, Montana
Air filters in public shelter near Zurich, Switzerland
Doors to public shelter near Zurich, Switzerland
Personal unit in public shelter near Zurich, Switzerland
