Why this work exists
The history of radioactive materials in Western New York is scattered across technical reports, government archives, legal records, industrial sites, and the memories of people who lived and worked nearby. This project brings those fragments together so the public can understand the system as a whole.
The work combines documentary photography, archival research, oral histories, video, sound, and an interactive map. It follows the regional uranium-processing chain, the movement of radioactive waste, the use of industrial material as fill, and the long period in which residents were left without a clear account of what had happened around them.
This website is designed as a public-facing research and testimony archive. It remains a work in progress and will continue to grow as documents are verified, stories are shared, and new information becomes available.
The map shows where the history happened. The stories show what that history did to people.
About Natalia Neuhaus
Natalia Neuhaus is an interdisciplinary artist and photographer whose work examines aftermaths—the overlooked traces of conflict, industry, and stigma. She explores environmental contamination left behind by war and industry, as well as the complex realities of sex work, seeking to shift perceptions and affirm the dignity of those who choose this work.
Neuhaus approaches photography as a form of visual knowledge and an act of witnessing that reveals hidden narratives. Her projects emerge organically through encounters, research, curiosity, intuition, and self-reflection.
She has received numerous honors, including the Leica x VII Agency Mentorship Award in 2022, a Women Photograph Grant in 2024, and, most recently, an environmental art grant from Anonymous Was A Woman and the New York Foundation for the Arts. She is currently an MFA candidate at Columbia University, Class of 2027.
Natalia lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her wife and two dogs.
To learn more about Natalia’s background, projects, and broader artistic practice, visit natalianeuhaus.com .