Description
Limited Edition of 50 copies printed by L’AtelieRisographie
Kyiv exists to be fallen in love with.
I have spent my entire conscious life in Ukraine, and after leaving, I lost my mind.
My roaring youth —
Where have you gone? Who stole you from me and why? Or did I squander you so carelessly myself?
Perhaps you got lost between revolutions, underground raves, parliamentary sessions, scorching wars, yellowed wallpapers, blue stairwells, night trains, and, in the morning, damp palms on a tired back.
“Bon courage,” my French teacher encourages me. “I wish you luck!”
I smile. In my language, there is also the word КУРАЖ, but with a different meaning — zeal, excitement, the readiness to overcome obstacles or face danger.
Exactly the set of qualities one needs to survive in Ukraine.
These photographs, taken from my personal archive, capture a segment of life — both mine and my country’s — between 2014 and 2022. My hometown of Kryvyi Rih, the equally beloved Kyiv, the incomparable Odesa, my travels across Ukraine and the world. Pictures that bring nostalgia for childhood friends and remind me of relationships I’d rather forget.
Photographs I never intended to share, and yet, here they are.
Hanna Hrabarska (1986) is a Ukrainian photographer, visual artist, and photojournalist. Before the war in Ukraine, Hanna was running a small portrait studio in the center of Kyiv. Over the last decade she has established herself as a freelance photographer, photojournalist and documentary artist — with both commissioned and autonomous work. For some time she photographed music bands and techno DJs touring around the world. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Journalism from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Kyiv (2010).
In the course of her now thirteen-year career in photography, Hanna’s work was published in numerous media outlets and exhibited around the world. Her photography has been part of a group show at 2022’s Venice Biennale (“This is Ukraine; Defending Freedom”).
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