Kharkiv School of Photography
Since the late 1960s, an artistic phenomenon has developed in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv that has endured to this day thanks to its aesthetic principles and experimental concepts: the Kharkiv School of Photography. Around 40 artists from four generations are part of this movement.
Image gallery
Evgeniy Pavlov, “Alternative”, 1985, collage, gelatin silver print, 30×45 cm. Collection of the Museum of the Kharkiv School of Photography, Kharkiv, Ukraine
Viktor and Sergiy Kochetov, “Hardworking Women, Builders of Communism, Diligently Sorting Harvest and Having No Clue There are Beautiful Clouds Above Them”, 1978 (coloured 1980s-1990s), gelatin silver print, hand-coloured, 30×40 cm. Collection of the
Oleksandr Suprun, “Widow”, 1984, gelatin silver print, collage, 30×40 cm. Collection of the Museum of the Kharkiv School of Photography, Kharkiv, Ukraine
The diverse community of photographers has experienced numerous social upheavals that have shaken Ukraine: from the false stability of the Brezhnev era to the rapid liberalization of perestroika, the collapse of the USSR, the country's renewed independence, and the economic crisis that followed right up to the turbulence of the 1990s and the two revolutions as well as Russia's ongoing neo-imperialist war of aggression.
All of these events presented challenges to Ukrainian artists in different ways.
Works from first-generation artists such as Boris Mikhailov and Evgeniy Pavlov, through the groups SOSka and Shilo to current works by Bella Logachova and the duo Andriy Rachinskiy and Daniil Revkovskiy are shown.
This carefully selected compilation, developed in collaboration with the MOKSOP Museum of the Kharkiv School of Photography, offers an insight into the diverse artistic developments of this important phenomenon in art and cultural history.
