Kyiv’s Artist’s Home witnessed the closing ceremony of the fifth photo exhibition of The Day. Judging by visitors’ impressions (among them were politicians, experts, and, most importantly, colleagues), it is safe to assume that The Day’s photo exhibits have become a domestic photo journalistic standard setter. Now the photo exhibit will travel the regions and we might undertake a remake at the capital, so Kyiv residents missing it the first time could explore it.
Prior to the closing ceremony, Den/The Day’s Editor-in-Chief Larysa Ivshyna invited a large delegation of her regional counterparts to explore the exposition. They were in Kyiv to attend a seminar dealing with business problems, but they were in a different mood after visiting the exhibit. They could assess every work on display professionally and complained that finding professional photo journalists was easier said than done. They admitted that they often looked to foreign periodicals as standards. While exploring the exhibit, journalists could not help but comment on what was happening in the Ukrainian journalist community by way of professional competition and share their impressions of the exposition.
Ihor LUBCHENKO, Chairman, National Union of Journalists:
It’s the fifth exhibit, and I’ve seen all the previous ones. It’s displayed not only in Kyiv but also travels to the provinces. I’ve visited some of them. I like the idea and The Day’s persistent effort. I can just imagine how much it takes in terms of organizational, financial, and purely human resources to keep this exhibit going year in and year out (along with a daily newspaper).
The photos are interesting. Such exhibits help polish the Ukrainian photographers’ mastery. We often hear that Ukraine’s photo journalism is in decline. There isn’t much room for photo publicist work in the regional and even central periodicals. But now we have your photo contest and its attracts photographers from all over Ukraine, which means that your newspaper is raising the national photo journalist level.
Vasyl NAZARCHUK, Editor-in-Chief, Halychyna, Ivano-Frankivsk:
You have very good photos on display and the whole exposition is terrific. However, some photos, which I would personally award in the first place, appear to have passed unnoticed. As an editor-in-chief, I’d love to have such photos. Newspaper photography is on a low professional level in the regions.
I am not satisfied with photographers’ performance in Ivano-Frankivsk. Your photos, even those of regular newspaper items, show special insight. Our newspaper also holds photo contests.
One is called the Visage of Halychyna, and its final round is an awarding ceremony at a local drama company. Another consists of photo etudes, but the professional level is lower than yours, unfortunately.
Yevhen TSYMBALIUK, Editor-in-Chief, Vilne slovo, Rivne:
I’d like to single out a photo titled “The Titans” with two young people posing by a portrait of Taras Shevchenko. A small but extremely meaningful detail: the Titans inscription on their chest. A moment captured masterfully.
In general, I couldn’t find a single mediocre work; all are very professional and expressive. I hope to God that this photo exhibit will continue to bring people joy. And some works are genuine masterpieces. Perhaps wistfully I hope that such photos will embellish the pages of my newspaper.
Serhiy TOMYLENKO, Editor-in-Chief, Nova doba, Cherkasy:
This photo exhibit reflects reality like it is. The organizers did not reduce the topic to politics and the economy. The Day succeeds in standing out among other periodicals by launching such interesting projects. Rather than staging lotteries and giving out awards and gifts, they concentrate on extraordinary actions that are probably best described as elite.
Ihor RUDYCH, Chief Editor, “Safe Territory” program:
Almost every work on display appears to have a couple of subtexts. For example, that photo with several boys sitting on a pipe, or the extremely lyrical one called “Private Territory” with love laid bare for all to see; or “Closeness to Power,” a reflection in the eyes of cat sitting in front of the Cabinet of Ministers, making one aware of fear and enigma. The works on display are versatile, so it’s really hard to say which are the best. The photographers in the journalistic community should not be enemies; they should compete. It’s time we all admitted that The Day has done better than any other newspaper. Otherwise we would be moving backward, not ahead.
Liudmyla OLKHOVSKA, Deputy Director, Journalistic Foundation:
I can only admire your Editor Larysa Ivshyna. She spoke at a chief editors’ seminar. Organizing such photo exhibits is by no means a part of her official duty, nor is it profit-making. She is working for the key idea of raising the level of photo journalism and learning from the best examples. Your newspaper is unique, in this sense the only one of its kind.
