The thirtieth anniversary of Ukraine's independence is a good reason to rethink our achievements and defeats, discoveries, and disappointments. Each must be recorded and preserved.
Many books were published in Ukraine in 2021 dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the country's independence. They describe the history of modern Ukraine in great detail, but this book is not one of them. Our objective was not to make a history textbook or an album of Ukrainian documentary photography. We wanted to show the path to independence through the eyes of several generations of talented Ukrainian documentary photographers, and making it interesting for both a wide range of readers and professionals. We used broad strokes.
You will not find an exhaustive list of names and historical events here; but the photos collected in the book are not just prints of the time itself. They are symbols, an important historical and cultural baggage that has the power to change public opinion, thereby influencing history.
144 photos from more than 60 photographers, winners of not only Ukrainian but also world competitions, created a unique art publication that captures the recent history of Ukraine and will show it to the world.
Turning the pages of the book album, everyone will see Ukraine so different and at the same time close: relive the day of Independence and the adoption of the Constitution, become a participant in protests and revolutions, be at iconic sporting events and breaking of world records, meet outstanding Ukrainians and unknown heroes, go down to the coal mine and rise on the wings of the "Dream", will witness the fight against environmental disasters, communist idols and the pandemic. These photos, sometimes painful and cruel, are part of the integral process of creating a national identity. They helped make Ukraine stronger.
We do not claim completeness of the picture or encyclopedic objectivity. Photography is subjective, and this is part of its magic. Our experience allowed us to gather disparate photos together and share a view of history through the eyes of Ukrainian documentarians, to show it in the context of world photography. Because history is not what happened, but what remains in our memory. History without photography is just words, and no one in the modern world believes in words. Documentarians, if they do not create the history of our independence, at least help with their work not to mutilate it by those who want to rewrite it.
“Independent” is political, cultural, sporting events, tragedies, hopes, pride, and joy of Ukraine - not just reportage photos, but cultural heritage, the best Ukrainian documentary that has never been collected under one cover.
“Independent” is a large-scale study and preservation of modern Ukrainian photographic heritage, which should be introduced to the whole world. In addition to the Ukrainian version, the publication is planned in English, and has already been published in the highest printing quality, so it will easily become a table book for Ukrainian diplomats, cultural figures, politicians. It will also be interesting to every Ukrainian.
“Independent” is a unique collection that combines highly artistic photographs of the most famous Ukrainian documentarians of today with unknown photographs that are not yet familiar to the wide audience.
In addition, for the first time in recent years, the publication draws attention to the extremely high level of professionalism of Ukrainian documentarians, who tirelessly continue to record our history for us every day, despite the risks and obstacles.
Mstyslav Chernov:
— The working title of the project was "100 best documentary photographs of Independent Ukraine". But telling the history of the country only through the "best photos" was a utopian idea. According to the plan, the book was to be consist of chapters, each of which is dedicated to a certain decade; but then their volume would be unequal. The period after 2014 occupies almost half of the book. This is not because some events seemed more important to us than others, but because they are documented in more detail. So we decided to refuse such a division, and simply arranged the photos in chronological order with brief historical references. But informally, the reader will still notice three epochs: the post-Soviet period (1991-2000), the period of stagnation (2000-2012), and the breakthrough (2014-2022).
When we finished the book, we saw how the history of Ukrainian photography is connected with what is happening in the country. Tragic events seem to provoke documentary photography and other arts to evolve. In the last eight years, a generation of young authors who think about projects has grown, and this has brought Ukrainian documentary photography to the world level.
I realized that I had stopped perceiving history as a list of dates, events, and names. Working on the book helped me see how some historical events became the precondition for others and how the turning points were interconnected - and visually too. We are currently working on an English version of the album.
Mykhailo Palinchak:
— Until 1991, it was almost impossible to find a street photo. Political life is better documented, but sometimes such pictures are not enough. Due to the lack of photographs, we did not include in the book the monetary reform of 1996, when the new national currency, the hryvnia, was introduced. International sports competitions in which Ukrainians performed were also not filmed. That is, agencies and foreign photographers have these pictures, but domestic ones don't. At that time, Ukrainian photographers survived, and foreign photographers shot only what interested them.
The clear watershed is 2014, after which photographers begin to cover various events and do it differently. The book includes not only works by famous authors, but also little-known ones. And one of the photos of the Maidan was taken by a girl not related to photography.
Description
The publication includes 144 photos by 60 Ukrainian photographers, including Valerii Miloserdov, Oleksandr Hliadielov, Volodymyr Shuvaiev, Emine Ziiatdinova, Yevhen Malolietka, Yefrem Lukatskyi, Olena Hrom, Kostiantyn Chernichkin, Oleksandr Chekmenov, Ihor Chekachkov, Viktoriia Kvitka. Their works include key events in modern Ukrainian history, from the declaration of independence to the pandemic. It took five months to write “Independent”. It was published by “Vash Autograf” with a circulation of 1,000 copies, which were sent to Ukrainian libraries.
Details
Author: Mstyslav Chernov
Publisher: “Vash Autograf”, 2021
Producer: Yuliia Laktionova
Build Editor: Mykhailo Palinchak
Project manager: Igor Stepurin
Design and layout: Yaroslava Kovalchuk
ISBN: 978-6179520013
Language: Ukrainian
Cover: hardcover
Pages: 240 pages
Size: 21 × 28 cm.