Alexander Chekmenev Explained

Alexander Chekmenev (Oleksandr Chekmenov)
Native Name:	Олександр Володимирович Чекменьов
Native Name Lang:	Ukrainian
Years Active:	1988–present
Birth Date:	April 1, 1969
Birth Place:	Luhansk, Ukraine
Occupation:	Documentary photographer and photojournalist

Alexander Chekmenev (Oleksandr Chekmenov) (Олександр Володимирович Чекменьов, Russian: Александр Владимирович Чекменёв, born April 1, 1969)^[1] is a Ukrainian documentary photographer and photojournalist based in Kyiv.

Career

Chekmenev made his first photo while in school, attended a photoclub and later got a professional certificate from a licensed photo studio in Luhansk in 1988.

He worked for a studio in Luhansk and did small time jobs taking pictures of weddings, birthdays and other occasions. He also occasionally volunteered as a forensic photographer for an ambulance brigade in the city.

In 1997 he was invited to a Kiyv-based daily newspaper as a photojournalist and moved to Kyiv. In 1998 the newspaper ceased operation, Chekmenev became a freelancer and has been working as an independent photojournalist ever since. Today he works as a photojournalist

His first book was called simply Black and White Photographs and was published in 2008 in Kyiv as a part of series on Ukrainian photography. In 2011 Alexander made a private print of his book Donbass in Germany. Chekmenev created a series of portraits of protestors, called Warriors, as they emerged from the street battles of Euromaidan.^[2] His next book Passport was based on his work of 1994/95 and was published in the UK in 2017.^{[3] [4]}

Publications

Publications by Chekmenev

• Black and White Photographs. Kyiv: Artbook, 2008. . Ukrainian/English. Edition of 1000 copies.
• Donbass. Heidelberg: Kehrer, 2011. Edited by Andrej Krementschouk. . German/English/Russian.
• Passport. Stockport: Dewi Lewis, 2017. . Edition of 1000 copies.
• Lilies. Museum of Kharkiv School of Photography, 2020. Photography and text by Chekmenev. Edited by Sergiy Lebedynskyy. . Ukrainian/English. Edition of 550 copies.^[5]
• Pharmakon: Ambulance in Luhansk 1994–1995. Palermo: 89books, 2021. . With an essay by Donald Weber.

Publications with others

• Insight. Ukrainian black and white photography in the XXI century. 2008.

Collections

• Museum of Kharkiv School of Photography, Kharkiv, Ukraine (245 prints from various series)
• Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany (15 prints from the Passport series)
• Mystetskyi Arsenal National Art and Culture Museum Complex, Kyiv, Ukraine (prints from the Passport series)
• Märkisches Museum, Witten, Germany (2 prints from the Donbass series)

Solo exhibitions

• Ukrainian Passport, Lilac series, City art gallery in Poprad, Slovakia, 2000
• Ukrainian Passport, Lilac, The Blind, Easter, Portraits, The Miners, City art gallery in Olsztyn, Poland, 2001
• Donbass, Perm Museum of Contemporary Art, Perm, Russia, 2010
• Donbass,, Witten, Germany, 2013
• Donbass, Pálffy Palace, Bratislava, Slovakia, 2015
• Donbass, Passport, Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, OR, 2016
• Donbass, Märkisches Museum, Witten, Germany, 2018

See also

• Serhii Korovayny

References

Works cited

• Web site: Валентина . Шумейко . Фотомастер Александр Чекменев: "Я пишу историю человеческими портретами" . ArgumentUA.com . 2011-10-05 . 2017-05-14 . ru . https://web.archive.org/web/20170501111703/http://argumentua.com/3/fotomaster-aleksandr-chekmenev-ya-pishu-istoriyu-chelovecheskimi-portretami . 2017-05-01 .
• Web site: . Украина в 1998 году: убийство Гетьмана и наводнение в Закарпатье . Segodnya.UA . 2011-05-17 . 2017-05-15 . ru . https://web.archive.org/web/20170814163413/http://www.segodnya.ua:80/newsarchive/ukraina-v-1998-hodu-ubijctvo-hetmana-i-navodnenie-v-zakarpate.html . 2017-08-14.
• Web site: Евгений . Сафонов . Александр Чекменёв: "Мне интересно собирать осколки прошлого" . Bird In Flight . 2015-09-09 . 2017-05-14 . ru . https://web.archive.org/web/20180315172952/https://birdinflight.com/ru/vdohnovenie/opyt/aleksandr-chekmenyov-mne-interesno-sobirat-oskolki-proshlogo.html . 2018-03-15.

External links

• • "Ukrainian Servicemen", The New Yorker, 2014

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2023-08-31. The other side of Europe. The other side of Europe.
2. Web site: Fiona. Macdonald. 2022-03-10. Art in Ukraine: Bullets and barricades. BBC.
3. Web site: 2022-03-10. Passport to eternity: photographing the forgotten elderly of Ukraine. 29 December 2016. The Guardian.
4. Web site: 2022-03-10. Strong Arm of the State: Alexander Chekmenev's Post-Independence Ukraine Passport Photos. Time.
5. Web site: 2022-03-10. Anstalt der Lilien. 27 May 2021. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.