Personal War
“...I decided to shoot the last war using the first photography technique. I wanted to evoke the first documented war, fought in the same region almost two centuries ago – the Crimean War.
To juxtapose past and present.“
This film follows Ukrainian soldiers and civilians from the perspective of a photographer who decided to document modern war with the first photographic technique.
Using the technique that dates back to the 19th century poses a question of the absurdity and the timelessness of war.
I was born and raised in the USSR, where WWII (“Great Patriotic War”) was a "sacred cow". It was the personification of good and evil. I grew up with war movies and books, heroic deeds and my grandmother's stories of the famine she endured. Like other boys, probably, I was a little sad that I missed that time and would not be able to accomplish my feat. I couldn’t imagine that during my lifetime, I would have to witness an event that will be comparable in scale of tragedy. Of course, I couldn’t think that Russia would become a new symbol of absolute evil .
During the first trip in Ukraine, I became an eyewitness of this devastating and horrifying disaster. Then, I decided to shoot the last war using the first photography technique. To juxtapose past and present. I wanted to evoke the first documented war, fought in the same region almost two centuries ago – the Crimean War.
So, I bought a Ford Transit, converted it into a mobile laboratory, and went alone through several borders, to the front line.
In this body of work, while I sacrificed a "decisive moment" , I’m trying to catch on fragile glass the face and the timeless tragedy of war. I deliberately want to confuse my audience, make them take a closer look – and realize that the seemingly “old” photos have in fact been taken today. Thus, I’ve tried to close a certain logical circle.