“An interesting moment for taking a snapshot is worth time and patience”

On the eve of the exhibit’s closing, Yevhen MARCHUK visited the Lavra Gallery once more to look at the displayed works closely and vote for his favorite one. He talked about the photography as art, which offers a special point of view on the country, about Den’s Photo Exhibit and the art of making a special shot.

“It is important for visitors to know the peculiarities of organizing Den’s exhibits. Everything that is displayed has not been ordered by Den. It is a result of the International Photo Contest. I think that the most precious thing about this exhibit is that it reflects the state of Ukrainian society at this very moment,” Marchuk noted. “I mean, the society with its interests. I remember when in 2005 the exhibit was full of politics. It is not because the editorial staff of the paper choose only political photos, but there were really a lot of social and political works. The country lived with it, back then. And a person with a camera captures things that seem the most relevant to them. The anniversary 15th exhibit contains much less politics. It is present, but as a rule, it is reserved, with a slight hint of humor, irony, a certain meaningful accent. Sentiments and lives of ordinary people come before the camera flashes in the first place. Every year the exhibit reflects the social and emotional tendencies that prevail, and I think this year the reflection is especially precise.

“Some works are sad, but they do not dominate the exhibit. Of course, all sorts of things happen in life, and photographers have to talk about it as well. For example, if a mature photographer Andrii Nesterenko dares to make a photo At Kyiv Hospice, he makes a careful and constrained one. The author shows human sadness, disease, pain, and age in his work, but he does so with a deep understanding of what exactly he is showing. This is life. Such topics cannot be ignored. But they should be worked with in a way like Nesterenko does.

“And right beside this one, is an absolutely optimistic work by Tetiana Barybina Merry Lunch. A child is feeding a pigeon. A wonderful work!”

What is the most important in a photo for you?

“If we do not assess the photo from the point of technical mastery, implication is the most important. For example, a photo by Ruslan Kaniuka Election Night. Ultimate Curiosity, which portrays Hanna Herman whispering something into the Russian Ambassador’s ear. It is ironic and revealing. The photographer captured this very moment. And the viewer can only guess why Ms. Herman whispers and what exactly she is saying. As I have said, there are few political photographs at the exhibit, and all of them have a special emphasis.

“Look at the photo by Borys Korpusenko Like Brothers. From the point of view of philosophy, on which the photo is based, this is a shot of the century. People are not young, they are basically antagonists according to the previous history. And they look with such warmth at each other. The photograph contains an optimistic signal for the future unification of the Orthodox churches.

“Or let us take, for example, a whole human’s life in one photo Markivna by Roman Kolomoiets. You can feel the personality, deep gaze, a kind face. And a hard life, which the woman in the photo has lived.”

What impressed you in the award-winning photos?

“Their truthfulness. For example, Portrait against a Highland Backdrop by Yevhen Malolietka, which won the Grand Prix, breathes with naturalness. The clothes and looks of the newlyweds are ethnically enhanced. They look so organic. The same effect would be hard to reach in a different place. And here it is clear that this is natural for them, it is not staged. Their picturesque outfits are not perceived as decorative. And the photo is also good from the technical point.

“Natalia Kravchuk has also made a splendid political and philosophical reportage. You can stare at every work for a long time, you can build up your own story, notice parallels and symbols. Lutsenko, who shook Kuchma’s hand, can explain why he did it. But this photo is history now. It seems to be so Freudian. Why? Look at the photo: Klitschko is sitting, Yatseniuk is sitting, and Lutsenko literally jumped up and threw his hand out in a greeting.

“I asked Natalia whether other photo journalists were there. Yes, they were. But nobody else captured this moment. This is the essence of the skill, to notice more than others. That is why Kravchuk was awarded the Golden Day. It is clear that Natalia knows what she is photographing.

“I would also like to mention a photo by Mykola Tymchenko Love Overcomes Everything. The photo contains a whole personal story. It is clear that one of the couple has disabilities. But they love each other. The photo is permeated with humaneness and human philosophy.

“Along with such profoundly deep works, you can see a funny photo by Maksym Asauliak Jury. One must hunt for a long time to make such a shot, because cats and pigeons are no family.”

I know that you are an avid amateur of photography. How long can you spend with a camera in your hands to catch a good shot?

“You need to feel the situation. If you have a sense that an interesting moment is coming up, you can wait for a long time. A quality photo is worth time and patience. But sometimes it happens like Natalia Kravchuk said in an interview to The Day: you see something very interesting, but you do not have a camera on you. That is when you want to bite off your elbow.”

Visitors say that works presented at the exhibition are genuine art. But some experience photographers sigh and say that photography could be called art only in the era of film.

“There is some truth in it to some extent. I personally have been taking photos since 1956. I first took up photography when I was in the 9th grade. It was the so-called ‘cassette’ camera. There was no film yet back then. A shutter, a small eyelens, and off you go! They were such a hassle (smiles). Both when it came to taking photos and printing them, because contact printing without magnifier was used for it.

“Then I had the first film cameras: Liubitel, Smena-2, Smena-6, and later FEDs, which were manufactured by our Kharkiv factory. After those, reflex cameras Zenit appeared. Then I had Moskva-2, Moskva-5, Salut cameras with wide film, made in Kyiv. I remember that the Salut was extremely expensive, and a few photo amateurs had to put their savings together to buy one.

“The art was not only in taking a photo, but in developing it as well. Developing solution, Metol, hydroquinone, fixing solution, sodium sulphoxylate, special lighting, photographic enlarger... Then color film and color photographic paper appeared. Oh, it was a whole new era in photography!

“On the one hand, modern technology makes everything simpler, but on the other, the new equipment sets new requirements for the professionals. Thanks to computer programs, you can do editing, change colors and hues. But Den’s photo exhibits always feature works of photographic art. Images in photos are just like in real life, as it was, is, and will be. Why? Because the editor-in-chief, the head of the photo contest jury Larysa Ivshyna has banned photo editing since the very first photo contest. This is the value of the exhibit.

“And photographers who miss the era of film can use it to shoot their photos. And print them on paper. By the way, I still print the best photos on paper. Portraits on mat paper turn out to be especially expressive. And gloss is for summer photos, when there is a lot of nature and light in the picture.”

“I was in the picture once...”
 

Yevhen MARCHUK:

“It was 52 years ago, on May 22, 1961 on Chernecha Mountain in Kaniv, when the 100th anniversary of Taras Shevchenko’s body reburial was commemorated. I was part of the Literary Association of our Pushkin Kirovohrad State Pedagogical Institute (now it is the Vynnychenko State Pedagogical University), and we were invited to the event. Dr. Ihor Dolhanov, head of the foreign literature department, brought us there. Even though he was an expert in foreign literature, he had an excellent knowledge of Ukrainian one as well. I was in the third year of philology studies. I took the Smena camera and five rolls of film with me. Mykola Bazhan, Maksym Rylsky, Pavlo Tychyna, and many other famous personas participated in those events. We met all of them, but Tychyna spent the most time with us. I used all 5 films (they added up to 180 shots) and gave my camera to a friend of mine only once to be present in at least one photo. Here is this photo... Tychyna is signing another autograph. You can see in the photo that it was drizzling, but the famous writer still stayed with us. And I have made a large photo report for the institute back then.”