Generations of Resilience - 22 Ukrainian photographers

Anastasia Baklazhko (2002, Kyiv): “I’m a photographer and a student. I study Art History. I’ve been shooting for more than two years now. My focus is portrait and landscape photography. Sometimes, I also do collage.”

Valentyna Bilousova (Kharkiv, 1951) graduated from the Kharkiv Institute of Civil Engineering and Construction (today—Kharkiv National University of Construction and Architecture) in 1975. She got interested in photography in the mid-1970s; at that time, she met the key personality of the Kharkiv School of Photography—Boris Mikhailov. He worked at the local water utility, where Valentina Bilousova got a job during her senior year at the institute. As a part of the Kharkiv photo community, she attended the regional camera club at the Trade Union Amateur Arts House and the Semafor camera club at the Palace of Culture of the Railway workers. In 1978–1985 Valentyna Bilousova worked as a photographer at the construction technical school, after which she got a position at the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture (1985–2006). Between 2011 and 2022 she worked as a photographer at the regional gallery Mystetstvo Slobozhanshchiny (Kyiv).

Lisa Bukreyeva (Kyiv, 1993) started photography in 2019. Her practice is mostly focused in street photography, social issues and depicting the life of youth in Ukraine.

Alexander Chekmenev (Luhansk, 1969) started his professional path in 1988 in the local photo atelier in Luhansk. After completing military service, Chekmenev was hired as a photographer in the communal services center. In 1997, he moved to Kyiv, where he resides today, working for various media as a photojournalist. A large part of his body of work is a unique archive record of the 1990s Donbas, unveiling all the roughness of the social and political situation of the decade. Along with that, the photographer documents the current situation in the country, showing recent events and their outcome from Euromaidan to the ongoing Russian war of aggression. However, Alexander Chekmenev is not interested in producing mere detached records of the epoch: it is the people that are his primary concern. He portrays them in a straight-out manner, which is combined with a sincere interest towards the stories of people, and an understanding of their characters and habits.

Diana Danyliuk (2002, Chernivtsi): “I was born and live in Chernivtsi. I’m completing my studies at the Department of Journalism. I’m fond of literature and try to write poetry. I can’t live a day without music and capturing the world on camera. I love travelling. I enjoy and really appreciate my connection with nature, with the authentic local Hutsul culture, home and everything that made me who I am. I try to reflect upon my emotions in the least destructive way - through photography.”

Maxim Dondyuk (Slavuta, 1983) works in the field of documentary photography. His practice integrates multiple mediums including photography, video, text, and archival material. Maxim Dondyuk has been awarded International Photographer of the Year in Lucie Awards, finalist of the Prix Pictet Photography Prize, Magnum Photos competition ‘30 under 30’ for emerging documentary photographers.

Igor Efimov (Cherkasy, 1987) is the author of personal and group exhibitions in Ukraine and abroad, multi-time winner of photo contests. He started in 2009 with documentary series and street photography, later added to his practice social and art projects.

Viktor and Sergiy Kochetov (Kharkiv, 1947-2021 / 1972) was a photographic duo of father and son. Viktor got interested in photography in 1968 and started earning his living as a professional photographer in the early 1970s. For over 40 years, he worked as a master printer for various film and photo laboratories as well as a photojournalist for various newspapers. He created a significant part of his work together with his son, Sergiy Kochetov. Sergiy assisted Viktor since he was a teenager, and, like his father, pursued a career in photojournalism. As both authors had experience in photojournalism, it formed the backbone of the visual language of their works, as they aimed their cameras at what would have never been published in any media—eventless daily scenes. Practically always with their cameras on them Viktor and Sergey often became the characters of their own photos, fooling around and playing out various everyday situations.

Olia Koval (Chernihiv, 2001) started photography in 2018. She is studying at the Cinematography Faculty of the Karpenko-Kary in Kyiv. The photographer works in online media Zaborona and she is a member of the MYPH team. Olia Koval won Fresh eyes Award like new talent in 2023.

Vladyslav Krasnoshchok (Kharkiv, 1980) is an artist, participant of the Shilo group since 2010. Apart from documentary photography, he also uses anonymous archives and hand-colouring, methods that evolved in Kharkiv photography in the late 1970s.

Sasha Kurmaz (Kyiv, 1986) is an interdisciplinary artist. In his artistic practice, he studies various models of interaction with public space, social groups and communities as well as explores the changing relationship between human beings and the modern world. He holds a BFA in design from the National Academy of Managerial Staff of Culture and Arts in Kyiv in 2008. Sasha Kurmaz received C/O Berlin Talent Award 2016 and Kazimir Malevich Artist Award 2020 (Ukraine) and Grand Prix Images Vevey 2023 (Switzerland).

Volodymyr Mateichuk (2003, Kolomyia): “I live in Kolomyia and study journalism in Lviv. I’ve been into photography for four years now, predominantly documentary. I’m a finalist of Odesa Future Photo Days 2021 and under 21 finalist of London Street Photography Festival 2021. My work was exhibited at Singapore and Reykjavik.”

Tim Melnikov (2003, Odesa): “I’m an Odesa-born Ukrainian photographer. I shoot street, reportage, and architecture. From the first days of hostilities, I’ve been chronicling the effects of the war in Odesa. I study at the Faculty of Journalism of Mechnikov Odesa National University.”

Boris Mikhailov (Kharkiv, 1938) is a key figure of the Kharkiv School of Photography and one of the great masters of contemporary photography. He lives between Berlin and Kharkiv. Boris Mikhailov was educated as an electromechanical engineer. Early in his career, he was given a camera to document the state-owned factory where he was employed; he used it to take nude photographs of his wife. He developed them in the factory’s laboratory and was fired after they were found by KGB agents. Today seen as one of the most important figures on the international art scene, he has received many prestigious awards, among them the 2015 Goslar Kaiserring Award, the Citibank Private Bank Photography Prize (now the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Award) in 2001 and the Hasselblad Award in 2000. He represented Ukraine at the Venice Biennale in 2007 and again in 2017. His work has been exhibited in major international venues, including the Tate Modern in London, MoMA in New York, and more recently, the Berlinische Galerie and C/O Berlin in Berlin, the Pinchuk Art Center in Kyiv, the Sprengel Museum in Hannover, and the Staatliche Kunsthalle in Baden Baden. Boris Mikhailov had an important retrospective at the MEP (Maison Européenne de la Photographie) in Paris in 2023.

Krystyna Novykova (2002, Mariupol): “Before the war, I studied acting and directing in Kyiv, now I am working on a play in Milan. Cinema, theatre, and photography coexist side by side in my personal space. I try to find balance between not limiting myself to only one thing and being focused and precise in what I do here and now. Sometimes I succeed.”

Mykhaylo Palinchak (Uzhgorod, 1985) was an official photographer of the 5th President of Ukraine, Petro Porochenko. He is the co-founder of Ukrainian Street Photography group. Since 2012, Mykhaylo Palinchak is a member of Ukrainian Photographic Alternative (UPHA) and member of Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers (UAPF) since 2014.

Yevgeniy Pavlov (Kharkiv, 1949) representative of Kharkiv School, lives and works in Graz. He graduated from the V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University and cinematography department of the Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theater, Cinema and Television University. In 1971, with Jury Rupin, Yevgeniy Pavlov was an initiator in setting up a group known as Vremia (Time) with Boris Mikhailov, Oleg Maliovany, Oleksandr Suprun, which was an eminent centre of provocative photography in the Soviet Union. After the series Violin in 1972 Yevgeniy Pavlov created his mainline project from 1990 to 1994, Total Photograph, which is related to the study of the language of photography as an artistic medium. Together with the artist Vladimir Shaposhnikov and curator Tetiana Pavlova, they created three major projects: Common Field (1996), Pairnography (1998), Second Heaven (2003). Yevgeniy Pavlov has participated in numerous group and personal exhibitions, and his works are present in 14 museums of Europe, USA, and Japan.

Volodymyr Shapiro (2003, Lviv - Zolochiv): “I’m originally from Zolochiv. I live and work in Lviv. I’m interested in documentary photography. I have a bachelor’s degree in political science which I complete with a master’s program in cultural studies.”

Sergiy Solonsky (Osipenko, 1957) is one of the important personalities of Kharkiv photographic community. In 1975 he began studying Chemistry at М. Grokiy Kharkiv State University (V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University now), but dropped out after a third year. While being a student, he attended a cinema club and gradually got interested in photography. He became an active participant of exhibitions since the late 1980s, drawing the public attention with his collages (Bestiary series). Solonsky’s compositions develop the principle of “module collage”, which is based on creating an image by repeating one element (Phallic Heraldry series). His pieces are defined by the inclination towards the surreal vision of body: corporeal metamorphosis is represented not only with the help of montage, but other techniques, such as long exposure as well (Oscillations, 1993-1994). Despite his love for straight photography, it rarely appears in Solonsky’s oeuvre of the 1990s, mainly in some separate shots and two documentary series (Let’s have a drink and Moonshiners). Sergiy Solonsky was a member of The Fast Reaction Group in the mid-1990s together with Boris Mikhailov, Sergiy Bratkov and Vita Mikhailov. Since 2000, he works at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.

Elena Subach (Chervonohrad, 1980) came to photography around 2012, joining the "5x5 / Dzyga" art community. Her grandfather, an icon painter, and her father, a librarian had a great influence on her work. The Grandmothers on the Edge of Heaven’s project was nominee for Future Talents (2019).

Oleksandr Suprun (Berezivka,1945) is an artist of the first generation of the Kharkiv School of Photography. From 1962 to 1968, he studied at the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute (the National Technical University ‘Kharkiv Polytechnical Institute’ now) at the department of dynamics and strength of machines; in 1972, he received a PhD degree in process engineering. He worked at the All-Union Institute of Mine Construction. After the Institute, Oleksandr Suprun joined a regional photo club in 1967. Later, together with Jury Rupin, Yevgeniy Pavlov, Oleg Maliovany, Boris Mikhailov, Guennadiy Tubalev, Oleksandr Sitnichenko and Anatoliy Makienko, he participated in the Vremia [Time] group, founded in 1971. His first solo exhibition was organized in 1973, after which the author participated in numerous contests and salons of the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP). Oleksandr Suprun was awarded with the distinction “Excellence FIAP” (EFIAP) in 1996. Since 1981 he has been the associate professor of the Kharkiv Art and Industry Institute (now the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts).

Daria Svertilova (Odesa, 1996) graduated from École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs of Paris in 2023. Using photography as her main tool, Daria Svertilova aims to create a sincere and subtle portrait of her generation. Her work was exhibited across Europe and in the US and published in M le Monde, The Guardian among others. Daria is a finalist of Palm Photo Prize 2022.