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Curator Statement by The Black Snapper

Today’s photo essay enticed me to indulge in pseudo-philosophic contemplations for a while. The beautiful work Yulia presents and her testimony may suggest that the artist was somehow ‘tricked’ by her change in perspective. When she went away and broadened her mind, developed herself, the place where she grew up stayed the same. Possibly, it even deteriorated. Memories deceive. For most of us, our minds retain the positive memories much better than the negative ones. Add to that the magical perception of childhood, described so well by Yulia and one easily creates memories no reality can live up to. In a way, the essay feels like a coming of age project. An understanding of the realities of reality, a loss of childhood dreams and innocence. “Painfully familiar, yet distant, shrunk and pale.” I have a similar feeling towards my own personal background. The backside of this coin is realising that the past being pale may also mean that the present is colorful. This is what Yulia’s work made me realise, I find it both touching and inspiring.

Yulia Serdyukova on the web: yuliaserdyukova.com. Alexander Glyadyelov is a documentary photographer and an independent curator based in Kiev. Click this link to get the latest international photography news and related articles (popup)

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Selected by Alexander Glyadyelov on December 9, 2009 | Tag: Asia, black and white, childhood, cityscapes, daily life, Ukraine | Share/Save

2 Comments so far

Add Your Comment

mike thompson said: 2009.12.28 15:26

the grass is too green.
Olarotimi Onayemi said: 2010.01.08 20:05

I was here today because I’m planning a trip to Ukraine in February.
Your pictures are great. Tells stories!
I’m freelance journalist and wish to come record part of a documentary on Intelligent Communities in Ukraine, then Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, France, US, Cuba, Jamaica, Brazil, Venezuela, South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and on to the Pacific and Asia.
Hope to see you when I come around.

Your Comment

Korchevatoye - Nostalgia

Yulia Serdyukova (Ukraine, 1981)

Kiev, Ukraine

I had a happy childhood. Loving parents, a careless daily life in the kindergarden, picnics on the weekends. Korchevatoye, the neighborhood where I grew up is located on the outskirts of Kiev.

When I was little it appeared to me as a Magic Land – fruit gardens, labyrinths of garages next to the river, hostels and “khrushchovkas” mixed with private houses, children and babushkas – all so dear. Childhood got imprinted like a bright colorful fairy tale in my memory.

Then I moved. Now, when I return and walk the pathways of my childhood I feel my heart sinking. Everything around is painfully familiar, and at the same time distant – shrunk and pale. I can barely recognize the faint traces of the fairy tale. So, what had changed? Yes, houses dilapidated, gardens grew thin, the river is covered by duckweed, children are gone and only few babushkas are left.

But is that it? I don’t know. I know only one thing – time does its thing both with the place of my childhood and with myself.

The black and white photographs were made in the spring of 2009. The color pictures are slides from my family archive. Korchevatoye, Kiev, Ukraine.

Click image to view yesterday’s presentation.

Yesterday's presentation - click image.

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