What if iPhones and Facebook already existed by the dawn of the Atomic Age? Would your news feed be clogged with photos of vacationing friends staring out at not-too-distant mushroom clouds? That's the alternate history imagined by Clay Lipsky's Atomic Overlook photos.
Lipsky explains that his photos offer a view of a population desensitized to the threat of nuclear weapons:
Imagine if the advent of the atomic era occurred during today's information age. Tourists would gather to view bomb tests, at the "safe" distances used in the 1950s, and share the resulting cell phone photos online. Broadcast media would regurgitate such visual fodder ad nauseum, bringing new levels of desensitization.
Lipsky notes that the threat of nuclear weapons is still present, even if it doesn't loom as large in our imaginations as it once did. But he doesn't doubt that the destructive power of these weapons still holds a immense fascination.
See the entire series at Lipsky's website.
Atomic Overlook [Clay Lipsky via Neatorama]
