“Warning: some photos may be shocking.”
That’s what BBC Ukraine wrote about “.RAW,” a book of documentary photography about the EuroMaidan Revolution, Crimea annexation, and the war in the eastern Ukraine.
The photos featured in the book will be exhibited in the Ukrainian Museum in New York, United States, from Nov. 18 to March 25, 2018.
“.RAW” focuses on volunteers, soldiers, refugees whose life was affected by war. It contains 137 pictures taken by 33 photographers. The New York exhibition will feature a share of the photos.
The exhibition will open on Nov. 18. at 6:30 p.m. with a discussion with Anatolii Stepanov, co-author of the book and a photographer who has been taking pictures of war since 2014.
Kostiantyn Chernichkin, the Kyiv Post photographer, curated the production of the book with the Pole Zoru agency.
“The name ‘.RAW’ has three meanings,” Chernichkin said. “Firstly, raw means ‘in a natural state.’ Ukrainian society and army weren’t ready for the war, they were in a raw condition. Secondly, raw is a format of a photo file that was minimally processed. It’s a book of documentary photography, these photos are true.”
He also said that the name is a game of words, because “raw” spells “war” backwards.
“We wanted to show how the war influenced people and society, and Ukrainian army as a part of this society,” Chernichkin said.
Chernichkin added that the most complicating part in creating a book was going through the great amount of photos, choosing the best photos, and putting them together in a story. He said that the authors of the book went through more than 10,000 photos from 50 photographers who were shooting the war in Ukraine in 2014-2016.
“It was difficult to find a format and a way to organize the photos to create a story that would convey our idea: to show a person in the cycle of historical events and their role in these events,” he said. “We know that many ordinary people found the strength and courage to change the history both during the EuroMaidan and at the war.”
The book was published in March, and was already presented at several European photo and book fairs and during the Invictus Games in Canada.
“.RAW: Ukraine on the Front Lines” (photo exhibition). Nov. 18 – March 25, 2018. Ukrainian Museum in New York City (222 East 6th Street (bet. 2nd and 3rd Aves.). Wed – Sun 11:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
See the details here.
