Фотолітопис Самовидця незалежності: виставка Олександра Глядєлова
Photorecord of the Eyewitness of Independence: Exhibition of Oleksandr Hliadielov

Summary/Abstract: Sweeping across 35 years of Ukrainian history, the exhibition “And I Saw” transforms Alexander Glyadielov’s black‑and‑white photography into a visceral journey through revolutions, social upheavals, and the lived realities of the most vulnerable. From the chaotic freedoms of the early 1990s to the iconic scenes of the Orange Revolution and the Revolution of Dignity, his lens captures both symbolic turning points and fleeting human expressions that define an era. The photographs juxtapose political milestones with intimate portrayals of marginalized communities—homeless children, the addicted, the abandoned—restoring their presence to the nation’s visual memory. Echoing motifs and mirrored compositions link past and present, revealing how exhaustion on the faces of special forces in 1990 rhymes with that of today’s soldiers fighting for Ukraine’s survival. Throughout, children appear as both literal subjects and metaphors for a young state repeatedly forced to grow up too quickly, from carefree figures at early independence rallies to daughters standing amid ruins of missile‑shattered homes. The exhibition crescendos in an immense final image of a lone serviceman carrying multiple rifles along a torn earth road, a stark embodiment of burden, endurance, and the moral weight borne by those defending the country. The result is a photographic chronicle that blurs the boundary between viewer and scene, urging each witness to step closer to the stories and responsibilities that shape Ukraine’s collective fate.

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