The Day’s photography competition

The Day ’s ambitious project — its annual photography competition — deserves attention from Ukraine’s government and the general public. At the opening of the newspaper’s photography exhibit in Dnipropetrovsk, editor in chief Larysa Ivshyna gave the following description of one of the most popular visual arts: "Words are not the only important things. Sometimes they must be supplemented by great photographs. Often a photograph is emotionally more powerful than the article it accompanies. Pictures have a way of "turning on" feelings, so people often laugh, cry, and exchange ideas at our exhibits. When we select the best photos, our main criterion is: let the best photographers win."

Such an approach is worthy of emulation. But this is not the main point. I am convinced that what makes these photo contests so attractive is that they are an inexhaustible source of information and spiritual energy. It was no coincidence that Vadym Ryzhkov’s feature on the opening of the photo exhibit in Dnipropetrovsk’s Taras Shevchenko Academic Music and Drama Theater was entitled " The Day acquaints Ukrainians with Ukraine."

The Day plays an important in the life of Ukraine. This newspaper encourages its readers to ponder various phenomena in the cultural life of our country. The idea to hold a photo competition was first raised in 1998, on the eve of the newspaper’s second anniversary. Since then, the editorial office has focused on this annual project, which has earned the public’s acclaim. This is reward enough.

We see a hope-inspiring trend in The Day : a creative initiative followed by tangible results. It is also gratifying to know that The Day ’s 10th international photo contest is a jubilee year. The editorial office has expended much effort to promote the development of Ukrainian photography and photojournalism. Among its sponsors are the World Bank, the First National Television Chanel, the Adamant Co., and the magazine Digital Photographer . The list of companies that consider it an honor to donate funds to The Day ’s prize pool — one of the largest in Ukraine — is equally impressive. The statistics on visitor attendance in various cities and towns throughout Ukraine are impressive: approximately 20,000 visitors every week, according to Ms. Ivshyna. Visitors flock to these photo exhibits because the displayed pictures are full of the spirit of social progress. The photographs portray Ukraine and its people. Each photo has a different subject matter, including current politicians and average Ukrainians. Ukraine’s collective photographic portrait is extremely diversified, but the portraits of ordinary people are the best, as they depict typical Ukrainians in terms of character and emotionalism. One is reminded of Ivan Dziuba, who said, "Every individual is a universe, a special microcosm."

Whereas five years ago The Day ’s photo exhibits were held mostly in Kyiv, today they have become important cultural events throughout Ukraine’s regions. People attend these popular shows in regional centers, theaters, universities, houses of culture, and other place, often having to juggle their daily work schedules.

The Day ’s editorial has developed a system for using the photographs after they have been exhibited. Often they are published alongside newspaper articles. I was very affected by the photograph that was used to illustrate my article "Why is parliament humiliating our women?" ( TheDay , no. 33, 2007). The caption to the photo read "On the pedestal." This photograph was submitted to the 8th photo contest in 2006.

It would be hard to imagine a more emotionally-charged photograph that would have such a significant effect on readers. It hit the bull’s-eye because we still have a long way to go to secure equal rights for men and women in the electoral process.

In addition to illustrations, which are specially selected to accompany newspaper articles, the editorial board has begun issuing wall calendars. Creating this system without a well-thought-out approach to the photo archives would have been impossible because photographs require careful storage and timely usage. Photos do not serve their main purpose when they stored as negatives, shelved somewhere in the archives. They are alive on the pages of newspapers and magazines, on apartment walls, on coffee tables, and in family albums. They are alive so long as you can see them.

The Day ’s photo exhibits are helping to promote Ukrainian national identity. The French sociologist Roland Barthes writes that any kind of photograph is a certificate of presence. From these photos we can learn about Ukraine’s standard of living, social status, Ukrainian family traditions, the people we are prepared to trust, and the emergence of new values. When I was at the show in the Ukrainian Home, I was especially impressed by the following photos: Who told her this?, Character, On native ground, Leonid’s politics, Requiem, A country highway, A sea of tenderness , and If you would only study properly. We have to preserve national identity during the age of globalization.

The concept behind The Day ’s photo exhibits is to portray life in Ukraine the way it really is. For photographers, people are the most interesting subjects. But there is a big difference between understanding life and people. One has to learn to understand characters and perceive moods. Hryhorii Skovoroda said that “it is not the flesh but the soul that makes a human being.” There was nothing coincidental about the Lviv photographer Yevhen Kravs being awarded the Grand Prix for his photo Ostap Khmil , about the tragedy at Sknyliv. After looking at Andrii Lomakin’s photo He’s beautiful anyway (Kyiv), people become better. Other masterful photos include My mother, The prompter , and How they listen .

The Day ’s nine national photo contests constitute an inexhaustible source of facts about various aspects of life in Ukraine in the past decade. Studying these photos, you become convinced that Ukrainians are never perfectly good or absolutely bad; they are all different. You can see that there are various aspects of our national identity. This is a key issue for Ukraine: who we are, where we are, what we’re doing.

In recent months this topic has become especially acute; it is practically all-embracing. The photos submitted to the photo contests are symbols of national memory. The one entitled The best pupils from the school of democracy , by Kostiantyn Chernichkin (Kyiv), is a vivid illustration of abuses in electoral democracy. Also memorable is The stand , which shows Yevhen Marchuk in the Ukrainian parliament’s cabinet section demanding that he be given the floor, as is Mykola Khriienko’s mournful photo KOLYMA, Arkagalinsky Pass: An embroidered towel from Poltava oblast , from the series Ukrainians beyond the Ural Mountains. These photos portray Ukrainians in various dimensions of fate and eternity.

We sometimes forget that the main role of photography is to preserve memory. When I was no longer a young man, I realized that I could not remember what my first schoolteacher looked like. Even worse, I couldn’t remember what I looked like when I got an award for winning the school’s track-and-field competition. I couldn’t recall the suit my parents bought for my senior prom. When I started questioning my mother, she sighed and said, “If only there some photos.”

The Day ’s exhibits are convincing proof that contemporary Ukrainian society primarily needs thinking photographers rather than those who merely entertain. Thinking photographers so captivate their viewers that sometimes they buy any kind of camera and try their hand at taking pictures. After all, photography is the most democratic and generally accessible of the visual arts.

The future will show what will become of Ukrainians. We owe a debt of gratitude to the newspaper for allowing us to reflect on who we are, where we come from, where we are headed, and what we are striving to achieve.