Alexander Chekmenev (Oleksandr Chekmenov) ( ua, Олександр Володимирович Чекменьов, russian: Александр Владимирович Чекменёв, born April 1, 1969) 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 Euromaidan (; uk, Євромайдан, translit=Yevromaidan, lit=Euro Square, ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protes ...

. His next book ''Passport'' was based on his work of 1994/95 and was published in the UK in 2017.

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. *''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 Mystetskyi Arsenal National Art and Culture Museum Complex, also known as Mystetskyi Arsenal ( uk, Мистецький арсенал, translated as the «Art Arsenal») — is Ukraine's flagship public cultural institution, a museum and art exhi ...

, 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 Blue Sky Gallery, also known as The Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts, is a non-profit exhibition space for contemporary photography in Portland, Oregon. Blue Sky Gallery is dedicated to public education, began by showing local artists and ...

, Portland, OR, 2016 * ''Donbass'', Märkisches Museum, Witten, Germany, 2018

References

Works cited

* * *

External links

*
"Ukrainian Servicemen"
The New Yorker, 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Chekmenev, Alexander 1969 births Living people People from Luhansk Ukrainian photographers Moscow State University alumni