“Den is part of my soul”

Prizes of Den’s photo competition keep catching up with their owners. We recently received at our office Mykhailo Markiv, who formerly worked as photographer for Den, but has become the personal photographer of the president of Ukraine. Markiv did not come alone, as he was accompanied by his son Roman, who is also making his first steps in photography.

“Den’s Photo Exhibition is always a kind of summary of the country’s life for the year,” Markiv shared his impressions of the event. “I like to go to it alone, when no one interferes with your thoughts. This year has been a special one in the history of Ukraine. It has been laying the foundations of our common future. Ukraine has to confirm its right to exist now. All of this can be seen in Den’s photos, as this year’s photo exhibition is, on the one hand, encouraging, but on the other, it raises many questions. It breaks my heart to look at some pictures, but they just reflect our life.”

Den’s Photo Exhibition of 2014 had Markiv’s series “Document: A Political and Psychological Thriller” put at its start. It records a conversation held by Viktor Yanukovych and Vladimir Putin during a meeting of the CIS in Minsk on October 24, 2013. The decisions taken on that day largely determined all subsequent events that occurred in Ukraine, as Yanukovych refused to sign the Association Agreement and the Euromaidan began in the matter of weeks. Markiv’s photos won the prize offered by tour operator Aquavita-Tour. “When I was taking these pictures, I was not yet aware of the historical significance of the moment,” the photographer recalled. “Could anyone think then that we will be hit by a war, worse than what Georgia experienced in 2008? One of the characters depicted in my photos was already planning it and another likely had no idea of the other’s game he was entering in December, to go down in history as a pawn. Everyone, even politicians and billionaires, have to remember that we all are mere mortals. I saw in Den once an opinion by Liubomyr Huzar, who said that such people needed frequent visits to the cemetery, to reflect on what they would leave behind them, because money and fame are transient...”

Apart from the Aquavita-Tour’s prize, Den presented Markiv with a copy of photo album People of the Maidan. A Chronicle on his visit to our office. After completing the “award ceremony,” Markiv went to our photo department to say hello to his colleagues. “Den is part of my soul,” the photographer told us. “I worked there for three years. It was the fall of 2003, just after I became part of the team, that my first son Romchyk was born, who is now here with me. Den is my home, and it is always nice to come back to it.”

Document. Politico-psychological thriller

OCTOBER 24, 2013. A MEETING OF CIS HEADS OF STATE IN MINSK. A WEEK OR TWO LATER, UKRAINE REFUSED TO SIGN THE EU ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT. THIS RESULTED IN THE EUROMAIDAN, WHICH WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF VIKTOR YANUKOVYCH

“CHRISTMAS TREE”

Photos by Mykhailo MARKIV