Lost Moments

 Since it’s invention, photography, like any other form of art, sculpture, even architecture, express, explore and question ideas about relationships to a place or time that has significance to us.

There are many ways of depicting such relationships in a photography- from a single shot that can stand on its own yet suggesting a narrative that extends beyond the frame to a sequence of photographs that suggests a deeper psychological narrative.

Inspired by the topic “Constructing Narratives and Challenging Histories”, I would like to show an example of a narrative that I am working on currently, based on pictures, taken by myself back in 2015.

Having been living abroad for 20 years, I still cope with the feeling of guilt because of leaving my country, the feeling of missing my family and the feeling of detachment from my background and the feeling of lost moments. To overcome these feelings and accept them, I started to photograph all what was around me, when visiting Ukraine.

One of the photographs is a self portrait and suggests my inner state, a feeling, where I am facing the origin of my identity and reflecting upon the importance of the connection to own community and roots.

The second one is a representation of the community, a place and time to which I am seeking to connect. It’s an amusement park, to which I often came with my family. as a kid. That image is a representation of my childhood, my past, yet, it’s a timeless moment, to which we always want to come back.

By putting together these two images, I seek to construct a narrative, through which I explore and come closer to the distant surroundings and distant time, which sometimes, I feel lost for me because I am not there any longer physically.

I have taken the photographs back in 2015, but I back then I didn't have a clear understanding of meaning of these images. Not until I have taken the course in Seeing Through Photographs.

Only after learning how we understand the depth of our lives through the lens of photography, I know, these images are not only about the final pictures. I use the camera to create a connection to a place, which has significance to me.

Perfect and Honest?

The artificial cover-ups of our daily life have its own price. The price is authentic honesty. You can hide and yet, embrace your own honesty by any means. In this photo project, I play with the layers of honesty of people close to me, and not so close to me to express that honesty has higher worth than perfection.

How To Be More Creative?

Creativity is part of our mind, our meaning, and our personal dynamics. Creativity is what we need, if we are to flourish in our well- being, including physical, environmental, mental, emotional, spiritual and social health. It’s a way to find meaning in all what we do, how we live and where we go.         

By Olena Denysyuk

  I think it is a well-known statement that creativity combined with rationalization and reasoning, adds more value to everything. It is a way for a product to stand out in a crowded market. Be it design, a story, a play. Be it something that provokes feelings. Be it something unique and beautiful, but meaningful. And for creativity to give meaning, it should be enhanced by rationalization and reasoning. Does it give meaning? If not- it doesn’t matter- creativity doesn’t always make sense. But actually, how do you find logic in creativity?

For many years I crafted my logical and analytical abilities, the left side of the brain, but not the right one. But actually, as long as I progress these analytical (L-sided abilities), I am becoming better and better in my creative (R-sided) abilities as well. What are the reasons?

Can creativity be synthesized? Or explained logically, and can it be learned at all? Where do creative ideas come from? What I have noticed, is that my good ideas to my creative hobbies (design, photography) come when I am relaxed; when I am very much motivated; when I notice details and its “new connections”; when I push myself into creative thinking; and when I have a dream. But I am sure there is more to the story.