Ukraine –
“On the 19th of January, 2014 a peaceful protest of Ukrainian Euromaidans on the Hrushevskyi Street in Kiev turned into the possible beginning of a civil war. It went too far, with explosions of gas grenades, Molotov cocktails, shootings of activists by the special police unit “Berkut”, abductions of people to the forest, acts of torture and all the other methods employed by dictatorial regimes. I couldn’t remain indifferent to what was happening in the country.
I called a fellow photographer and friend, Sergiy Lebedynskyy, and the decision was made to go to Kiev immediately. We bought tickets and the following day we were running on the Maidan in freezing temperatures, holding onto our gear, aiming our cameras at the crowd and trying to keep warm, sharing tea and sandwiches with the activists. Twice God saved us from a “Berkut” attack. With no helmets or gas masks, not even the orange press coat, it was not safe. The latter wouldn’t have saved us anyway as the press were being systematically targeted by the police.
We stayed on the Maidan for two days documenting the events as much as we could. We’re still alive without scratches or injuries. As I write these words I’m sitting in a train, Sergiy is in a plane, our films and impressions are with us” – Vlad Krasnoshchok, Shilo Group.
“Since the beginning of the collective work, artists associated in Shilo Group have been strongly focused on cultural and political issues in Ukraine. Rapid social changes in the country became a motor and inspiration for most of their projects. During a few years of coworking they created their own visual language. It is experimental and poetic manifest where the past is mixed with present and future. Sergiy, Vlad and Vadym constructed together a unique approach where documentary photography is interfering with personal, artistic or political statements.” – Krzysztof Candrowicz
Finished during the Ukranian revolution, ‘Euromaidan’ was published & Photography by RIOT Books.
