Kharkiv School of Photography is an artistic milieu that emerged in the 1970s in the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine. It was a school of aesthetic thought which never had any official status, where ‘education’ happened in clubs and coffee shops — not a school to attend classes. Still, the artists created an original visual language that broke free from the dominant Soviet dogma in arts. It defined the discourse for the next generations in Kharkiv and entire Ukraine and evolved into a distinctive aesthetic system, offering a documentary chronicle of over 50 years of its history.

Heavily bombed by the Russian army, several photographers of the group still remain in Kharkiv, as others managed to escape leaving their archives behind. An operation to preserve these documents is ongoing.

Ukraine-Russia/Volleyball, 1992

Viktor & Sergiy Kochetov/Alexandra de Viveiros Gallery
Viktor Kochetov creates work with his son Sergiy. They are well-known for hand-colouring black and white prints in the tradition of luriki — enlarged, retouched and often tinted photographic portraits. Continue reading »