Little Big Galerie presents Azov Horizons by Patrick Wack; an eponymous book has been published by Editions André Frère.
Blending symbolism and documentary, Azov Horizons by Patrick Wack explores the backstage of a geographical zone now engulfed in the violent struggle for control of southern Ukraine by Russia, while evoking the transformations underway in the societies of both countries—one sinking into a warlike authoritarianism, the other fighting for its survival.
“The Sea of Azov appeared to me in a burst of light. It was this very particular light, soft and colorful, that guided my first steps along the shores of this little sister of the Black Sea, to which I have returned every summer since 2019. It was these graduated horizons, which clash with our visual imagination of these regions, that I promised myself I would photograph, year after year in Ukraine and Russia, as a formal thread that would guide my steps. But this summer narrative, which I had hoped would be luminous, is also the chronicle of a world that is disappearing, devoured by the war that was soon to break out.”
As early as 2019, the region was already an area of intense friction. Fighting had raged for five years in the Donbas, Crimea had been annexed, and the Sea of Azov was de facto occupied by the Russian navy. The visual gentleness I found on these peaceful shores stood in a strange contrast to the evil that was rising. A world was on the edge of the precipice of History. This is the fundamental ambiguity that this series makes palpable: that beneath the beach the fury rumbles, and shells lie buried that shatter peoples. It has been three years since Ukraine lost its Azov horizons; few Ukrainians still hold out hope of ever seeing them again.
Influenced by the American tradition of road photography, the series favors detour and wandering over a journalistic approach, so that the territory and its singularities—rather than the event—take the upper hand in the narrative. It unfolds to the rhythm of long annual stays that allow historical time to reveal itself in all its complexity. These images turn our gaze toward the roots and the visible traces of this war; they are the backstage of an unthinkable horror on European soil. I hope they whisper to our consciences that what we believe to be secure is not immutable. Many journeys are still to come: I can no longer imagine a summer without Ukraine.”
Patrick Wack
Patrick Wack : Azov Horizons
January 14 – February 21, 2026
Opening Thursday, January 15, 2026
6 pm to 9 pm
Little Big Galerie / Paris
45 rue Lepic
75018 Paris
+ 33 (0)1 42 52 81 25
Tuesday–Saturday / 11 am–7:30 pm Sunday / 2:30 pm–7 pm and by appointment
www.littlebiggalerie.com
Patrick Wack : Azov Horizons
André Frère Éditions
Photographs: Patrick Wack
Texts: Anastasia Piliavisky and Patrick Wack
87 color photographs
152 pages, 24 × 29 cm
French/English
ISBN: 978-2-492696-26-8
€65
www.andrefrereditions.com
