“The vitamin of memory”

The Day has received first copies of the new photo album People of the Maidan: a Chronicle, published in Den’s Library series, which will be presented in the Mirror Hall of the Potocki Palace in Lviv at 2:30 p.m. on September 12 during the Publishers’ Forum. The album includes unforgettable emotional photographs of the Revolution of Dignity, taken by Den’s photographers. They picture people, events, and history...

“This album is not only a chronicle of the Euromaidan, but also a chronicle of the life of the whole country, a documentary history of the key moments of the modern era of our history,” Den’s photographer and co-creator of the album Mykola Tymchenko remarked on receiving his courtesy copies from Larysa Ivshyna (pictured on page 1). “Today, these photographs are perceived somewhat differently than during the events. No, they have not become less emotional and impressive, but, so to speak, they now look as a period that we have experienced but not yet analyzed... One can spend hours looking at these photographs, but today, after the Euromaidan broke camp, and its best participants went to fight on the eastern front, we can now look at them with eyes of cold reason and without unnecessary illusions. I remember the conditions in which we were shooting these pictures: the terrible winter cold or snow was ignored, stun grenades exploded underneath, tires were burning and Molotov cocktails flying. Unfortunately, many of my colleagues in the photo trade were beaten, and some killed. Here, in the album, one can see pictures of the first naive days of the student Euromaidan, then Popular Assemblies, and brutal violence against peaceful protesters... The country experienced one of the most important episodes in its history and we, the photographers, tried to get these developments recorded. I think that we should remember the heroes of the Euromaidan (hundreds of their stories are presented in this publication) in particular now, when we are at war, when hotheads are calling for ‘peace at any price,’ and we are hearing reproaches stating that it is easy to be patriotic in Kyiv, where there is no killing... This album, I am sure, will be the ‘vitamin of memory’ for the Ukrainians.”

THE 2+2 TV CHANNEL’S CAMERAMAN AND DEN’S CONTRIBUTOR IVAN LIUBYSH-KIRDEI WAS AMONG THE FIRST TO GET COURTESY COPIES OF THE ALBUM AFTER HE HAD BROKEN THROUGH FROM ENCIRCLED ILOVAISK WHERE HE HAD SPENT FIVE DAYS. HIS WORKS ARE ALSO REPRESENTED IN THE ALBUM / Photo by Mykola TYMCHENKO, The Day

According to Tymchenko, the Euromaidan was full of targets for photographers, and thousands of people used mobile phones, tablets, and cameras to record millions of important details, which are now kept in private family archives of Ukrainians. Den’s photographers, in their turn, demonstrated their ability to get the right focus, record a sincere emotion, and take a challenging picture that calls on the viewer to reflect on it. Why Ukrainians came to protest? How long the protest lasted? How much the Revolution of Dignity cost in efforts and sacrifices, and most importantly, why it was not in vain? Answers to these questions can be found in our photo album.

Den’s editor-in-chief Larysa IVSHYNA signed the first album for Liubov Koshova from Dnipropetrovsk, who ordered album People of the Maidan: a Chronicle and ukrainian-language version of book Ukraine Incognita. TOP 25 Online even before they were released in print. They can be ordered online at day.kiev.ua/uk/ catalog/10230 or by phone (38044) 303-96-23.