War in Ukraine and everyday life: photos by Anna Golubovskaja

Gwar in Ukraine and daily life: Anna Golubovskaja, 54 years old, has chosen, like many other inhabitants, not to leave her city. On Instagram @A.Golubovskaja entrusts a chronicle through images of ordinary moments in extraordinary times. You have an artistic-theatrical background and a degree in architecture in 1992. You have held courses in the history of art and photography and published numerous essays. he founded the Liberty Gallery, one of the first contemporary art galleries in Ukraine. In addition to being present in private collections, he participates in international exhibitions and fairs. But his photos can also be seen in Milan, at Paola Colombari Galleryfrom 6 December to 30 January 2024 as part of the exhibition Woman&Woman Renaissance (together with the artists Andrea De Carvalho, Adriana Fortunato, Paola Pinna, Nicoletta Poli, Alessandra Roveda, Monica Silva, Marilù S. Manzini, Carla Chiusano). We interviewed her.

Hand printed photographs

How did your passion for photography begin? “Portraying my daughter, but I wouldn’t have continued if I hadn’t also been passionate about books. Working on a book project about Odessa, about 23 years ago, I discovered that the photographer who I had appointed had a vision of things too different from my feelings. So I started shooting on my own.” Photos in which the search for light is a constant, always printed by hand, in analogue. “Here it’s very windy and the light is bright, glimmering, it influenced me a lot. However, when there are not ideal conditions for shooting, then you have to look for the light within yourself and in people, who sometimes even seem to shine,” explains Golubovskaya.

The war in Ukraine and the daily life that continues

The series of images exhibited in Milan was taken during the war. Sometimes a veil of melancholy emerges, but also a vital force. “They probably reflect my mood. Tiredness, worry and anxiety for a situation that still persists today,” he says. “When you understand in war you paralyze yourself, then you get used to it and start to get over it, you try to live everyday life. I shoot without trying to squeeze a tear out of the viewer at any cost. To evoke compassion, sometimes, but also a smile, admiration for beauty and affectionate feelings.

People are more interesting than missiles

I’m filming the destruction after the missiles arrive and I manage to do it poetically, but why show the destruction? The further I go, the more interested I am in relationships with individuals that I meet and that I often know. Everyone loves this city and, like me, consider it their home. I go out on the street and find a lot of amazing people: it can be an old lady on a boulevard, a taxi driver, some bakers or doctors who take care of children in a children’s hospital. In difficult times they maintain dignity, kindness and humor. I photograph them because desire that a trace of their life remains. For me it is more important than seeking shape or beauty.”

Appointment at the used book market

Every day Anna meets some friends at a small second-hand book market. They sit on a bench, or go to the cinema. At home he relaxes with a book and if there is no light he looks out the window. “Even though there is war, people still manage to joke, they fall in love, children are born. Winter is always a difficult time, there is often a lack of electricity and heating, but we have hardened ourselves to the low temperatures and I am seeing that, despite the conditions, cultural life is recovering.”

The dog and the air raid siren

When he is not taking photos, he takes care of his photographic archive and continues to work on the monograph of the 19th century Odessa photographer Josif Migurskij. Experiencing the war in Ukraine and daily life for her it means always staying in the company of her dog. “I try to never leave my 4-year-old Shih Tzu Athena alone, who is very afraid of air raid sirens. I take her with me even when I go away.”

Telling stories is my mission

In this period, parallel to the images of war in Ukraine and everyday lifeGolubovskaja is working on a new project (we will see it in April 2024) dedicated to a circus, traveling between the Odessa region and Moldova. “It’s like describing a world enclosed in a drop of water. It’s a poor circus, they have poor electricity, terrible music, modest equipment, but they try to make people smile. I am amazed at their professionalism when they risk their lives, without insurance, twirling 12 meters high under the big top. If I have to think about my photography, It’s been a long time since I’ve been interested in expressing myself. Telling stories is my mission, trying not to be too serious both with respect to my work and life. It is perhaps the most important point.” (Thanks to Eugenio Alberti Schatz, writer and artist, childhood friend of Anna Golubovskaja, for making this conversation possible).

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