Joseph Sywenkyj has beautiful eyes; they emanate sweetness and calm. As a photographer he has a sensitive, seasoned vision to his work, that belies the sadness and violence he captures. This young man has been working in and from Ukraine for the past dozen years. He is American of Ukrainian descent and bases himself and family in Kiev, enabling him to do assignments internationally and continue to work on some long term photo essays closer to his now home: The Ukrainian Revolution, Verses: A Family in Odesa and Verses: Portraits of a Disease.
Sywenkyj embedded himself with locals hoping the photographs that emerged would allow “[viewers to] see past the foreignness of the people in the images. I do not go out seeking to create the most dynamic photographs of peak moments of action. What I am most often looking for are quieter moments that get at something else.”
Sometimes his eyes slowly fill with tears when he shares his stories as he did this week at Aperture where he delivered a Smith Talk, part of an ongoing collaboration between the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund and Aperture Foundation. Sywenkyj reports on the horrors of conflict, specifically the maimed or wounded survivors of the revolution. He thoughtfully names each of the men who have suffered grievous, horrendous wounds and, often, multiple amputations.
Part of this photographer’s eye is his affecting and unique sense of color – bruised pastels that soften his scenes, like peach, lemon, orange, and plum. These are the colors of Cezanne ironically distilling the aftermath of these contemporary nightmares – from funerals, hospitals, and riots, to family life. One of his most memorable portraits of Masha (2007) is a good example. He has been following her very large family which has been ravaged by drug abuse and HIV. In the midst of this he manages to find innocence and radiance. Remarkable.
Curator Gail Buckland was in the audience and asked to respond to the evening. She writes, “Let Truth Be the Prejudice is the title of Aperture’s W. Eugene Smith’s monograph. The title holds for the photographs of Joseph Sywenkyj, living and working in the Ukraine. Like Smith’s photographs, they too embed in the brain. Once seen, not forgotten. And, if the importance and power of outstanding photojournalism is cynically questioned or minimized, just look at Sywenkyj’s photographs of the real life, dire impact of the Russian backed terror during the Ukrainian revolution. His pictures vividly remind us that every day is a new day, with people boldly facing new challenges with often terrifying consequences. In Sywenkyj’s photography, there is no deja-vu. He is intimate with the people he photographs and committed to telling the truth.”
“Very few people paid attention to Ukraine during the past 15 years that I have been documenting the country, even though there were warning signs of instability and routinely transparent anti-Ukrainian rhetoric coming from Moscow,” Mr. Sywenkyj wrote in his grant application. “Today, the international community takes notice at times, but even then, geopolitics and squabbling between E.U. leaders on how to react to Russian aggression is given prominence in the media. Ukrainian families, who are most affected by acts of war and terrorism, are not even on the radar.”
In an interview with TIME he said that “In February (2014), the country saw violent government crackdowns on anti-government protests on Kiev’s central square and later the fall of President Viktor Yanukovych‘s administration. In March, Russia annexed Crimea, igniting clashes between the Kiev-aligned military and pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country. “I lived through [the violence] and photographed what was happening in a city I consider home. It was more like photographing my community, it wasn’t a foreign story to me in any way. Out on the square risking their lives for democracy were my neighbors, friends and family members.”
W.M Hunt
Joseph Sywenkyj received the W. Eugene Smith Grant in 2014.This year’s Smith recipient and finalists will be recognized in the 37th Annual Ceremony on Thursday, October, 13th, 7PM, at the SVA Theatre, 333 W. 23rd St. NYC. Admission is free. You can book online although seating is first come, first served. Doors open at 6:15. It is consistently and notoriously the most memorable evening of photography of the year.
