Look in the mirror

Photo journalist Andrii Nesterenko has an old friendship with Den and even older inclination towards social issues. His photos have appeared in the newspaper many times, making readers ponder on this or another problem and even encouraging them solving this problem. However, there is an important feature that makes Nesterenko different from other photographers: he is “programmed” on the positive. He says he does not take gruesome photos. Nesterenko was the one who told Den about Donbas miners who get buried alive, cucumber pyramids in Ternopil oblast, Saint Nicholas’ House in Ivano-Frankivsk, and the love story of two orphans from Khmelnytsky. In short, he talks about the social portrait of the whole Ukraine through the lens of his camera and cameras of other photographers of Den’s 15th International Photo Exhibit.

“I have submitted my works to Den’s photo contest for the first time in 2003, and received the first award a year after. And it has been like that ever since. My first award-winning work was called The Choice of 2004. It was summer before the Orange Revolution. The photo shows two advertisement posters. The first, orange one, says ‘Sawmill. 300 meters,’ and the second, blue and white one, says ‘Psychological Consultation. 150 meters.’ And there is an old man with a bike standing in the middle between the two posters, scratching his head and thinking where to go, left or right. The prize that I remembered the most was a certificate for 5,000 hryvnias (it was a thousand dollars back then) for a dinner in one of the most expensive Kyiv restaurants. I used this present to celebrate my daughter’s birthday, and we spent only half of the sum. And only later I realized that I could have bought something delicious with the second half, put it in boxes, and came to Leonid Bakka’s [former chief photography editor of our newspaper. – Author] office, who was alive back then, and continue the celebration.

Most of your photos feature the social aspect of life.

“Because this is what attracts me the most. Photo At Kyiv Hospice was created after a trip to two hospices. The first one, in the Moscow Square, has been there since the Soviet times, it is unequipped, roughly speaking, it is dilapidated. The second one, near Zhytomyrska Metro Station, at the cancer hospital, offers truly European standards.”

What sort of people and places appear in your photos the most?

“I work as a photo journalist at the parliamentary paper Voice of Ukraine, and my job duties have brought me all over Ukraine, I have been to many places two or three times. I took photos in prisons, investigatory isolation wards, in orphanages, out in the fields, on Hoverla Mountain, underwater, in mines. I took pictures of miners in Donetsk oblast in winter. And they tell me, ‘So, you got buried alive, and nobody cares about digging you out. Another person comes to take your spot, and life goes on.’ There are many painful social topics which are highlighted only by a few newspapers.”

If you come to a place for the second or third time, do you see any changes?

“Of course, there are places where things change for the better. But very often the changes are external only, and the essence of the problem remains the same. For example, there is a children’s home on the territory of Chernihiv detention facility for women. Children who were born by the inmates live there until they have turned three. This children’s home have been there for five years thanks to a Swiss project. I have been there for the first time four years ago, and came back last year. The place now looks cleaner and more civilized. But the relations between the administration and the inmates remain the same. And take a look at Ivano-Frankivsk oblast. There is a children’s home at the monastery, or Saint Nicholas’ Home, as it is called by common folk. I have been there three times, and it gets better each time. It is maintained by the monastery, with minimal support from the state. Or for example, the southern shore of the Crimea. New hotels and residence houses are built, but a sanatorium for children, where bone tuberculosis is treated, falls into decay. It hurts to see the contrast between such institutions and some luxurious buildings.”

How should one prepare for shooting during trips for it to be interesting?

“When I travel to take photos, I always think about my own topics besides the task that was set for me. I always look up interesting information on the web about the place I am going to. The main goal is to show life of the place in its diversity. It is great if there are things that make people happy. However, often there are times when you see something and cannot help but wonder how such a thing can ever exist. For example, there is a ‘cucumber capital’ in Ternopil oblast. I came there in August, and one man told me he could show me something. He took me to a field, and there were heaps, whole pyramids made of rotting cucumbers. There is no market for these cucumbers, so they are just dumped out in the fields. I search for such places and tell everyone about them.”

What do the people you take photos of mean to you? Are they just characters, or do you immerse in every personal story?

“It happens in various ways. I keep in touch with some people for many years. But I will never shoot negative photos or write bad things about people. There are positive things even about prisoners.”

How do you get to talk to a person who is shy or does not want to be frank and does not want to be photographed?

“Every photographer must be a bit of a psychologist. You look at a person and you already know from their facial expression, you can feel by the look in their eyes whether they will talk to you or not. Sometimes you need to step back. And sometimes alcohol helps to get people talking.”

Is it hard to take photos of children?

“It is the easiest, in fact. It is always a pleasure to take pictures of kids. There is a UNDP program in Khmelnytsky for mothers with children who are in difficult situation. I have been there three times. After the first time, we published an article about a girl and a boy, who lived in a UN hostel. They finished school, got their degrees, and when I came there for the second time, it turned out they had already got married and bought a house in the countryside. When I visited the place for the third time, they already had children.”

What emotional charge do you want to give in your photos?

“A positive one, of course. There is enough negative stuff in our lives as it is. When I am on vacation, I grab my camera and take photos for my own pleasure. Once I tried to take a picture of one seagull stealing a fish from another. I came to a beach for four days in a row, brought fish along, fed the birds and took photos, trying to capture a nice shot. Until my wife started complaining that it was enough. The successful shot was one of the last ones.”

We talk about positive things. But how should old age be photographed for it not to look depressing?

“Everything depends on the person. Some old people are angered when you want to photograph them. But there are others. I took photos of an elderly couple in an abandoned village in Ternopil oblast. Even though the place was dirty and unkempt, they were happy. After you have been around people for a day, they get used to you and pay less attention to the camera.”

What would you never do as a photographer?

“I never hide to take photos and I do not like the word ‘paparazzi.’ A paparazzi is someone who looks for juicy facts and dirt, who hunts for negative things. I am always open with people, I never had rotten tomatoes thrown at me. A photographer needs to know when to stop. I also cannot take photos of grief. I cannot photograph at burials. The most I can do is take a general shot from a side, if it is necessary. But some people savor it. Especially young photographers. People of my age already know this limit. I started taking photos when I was 14, and I am 52 now.”

Do you have apprentices?

“I used to have a photography hobby group at the young technicians club, while it still existed. It was when digital cameras did not exist yet, we made solution and printed photos by ourselves. Teens attended my classes, took photos, some became photographers. And then the club was closed down.”

If you had to make a collage out of your photos, what would Ukraine look like, what would the photos depict?

“It would be ordinary people who do their job. For example, there is a teacher in an art school who teaches children to carve spoons out of wood, there is a miner who extracts coal, there are mechanics. It can be anyone, really! The main thing is to show their faces and hands.”

What Ukraine did you see at the Den’s 15th International Photo Exhibit?

“There was much politics this year, and as I remember, it was not typical for exhibits of previous years. And again, a lot of positive, which is the most essential when there is a constant flow of negative information pouring down on you from television. I remembered a photo of a combine harvester with a beam of light on it. I liked the category ‘World as Seen by Children,’ you can see that these kids will make talented photographers one day.”

Can photography change the world into a better place?

“The more we show people who remain humane in the most complicated conditions, the more we are going to tune our audience in to this positive mood. The more we tell such life-asserting stories to Ukraine, the more people we have who will not want to give up.”