The Humans v.21. Presence against indifference.
You don’t choose your times, You live and die in them.
— Alexander Kushner
I do not photograph events. I explore what remains when all social and political masks fall away.
The main subjects of my work are people without names. They are the true heroes of this world. Those who continue to live, choosing every day to remain Human, preserving their dignity.
There are no reports of pain here. My path is the search for the soul (animi) where, it seemed, it should have disappeared.
THE HUMANS v.21
Six years. Five projects. One story.
I photograph the people of the 21st century — those who live where history brutally breaks destinies. Under bombardment. In unrecognized states. In alien civilizations. And where children were robbed of their childhood. And yet — they remain children.
But… I also photograph where comfort and predictability build an invisible cage with a lock made of the fear of losing everything.
Where is there more chance to remain Human? Where there is nothing left to lose, or where there is everything?
This is not about politics. Not about destruction. Not about pity.
This is about people who refused to disappear and did not become part of the statistics and informational noise of our time.
MY PHILOSOPHY
I choose to look where the Light has not yet gone out under layers of dust and ash.
Where people, among the ruins, brushing shards off the stove, continue to brew coffee in the mornings. Continue to laugh. Continue to love.
There are so many Reapers, and so few Sowers.
I do not harvest the crop of others' pain. I search for seeds where the Reapers have already passed. Grains of humanity. Alive. Waiting.
My camera is not a tool of fixation. It is my way of being near. I do not shoot because I must. I shoot because I cannot turn away. This is my choice. To see these people. To hear their stories. To value the very possibility of telling them: you exist.
I believe that photography is not just an image. It is testimony. It is memory. It is voice.
In a world where everyone rushes, where news expires in an hour, and people become statistics, I choose slowness. I choose depth. I choose to look into eyes. Into silence. To where silence is louder than shouting headlines.
I do not make art for art’s sake. I make it for truth. For those who cannot speak for themselves. For those whom the world prefers not to notice.
My philosophy is simple:
- Every person deserves to be seen.
- Every story deserves to be told.
- Every moment deserves to be preserved.
Because we are all part of one story. The story of humanity, which is being written right now.
This site is an archive of frozen time. But life goes on.
In the Telegram channel The Humans v.21, I share what remains beyond the boundaries of exhibitions and shoots: the stories of those very people without a name, thoughts, and observations.
📱 Telegram (Updates in Russian) /📷 Instagram (Updates in Russian & English)
Collaboration
Most of my shooting is social and humanitarian projects. The rest is my authorial creative work.
I have people who support the project. Thanks to them, I can remain myself and continue what I do. Not turn into a product. Not lose myself in the pursuit of profit.
I am open to dialogue and joint projects that share my values: honesty, depth, and respect for the human being. I do not take orders on a conveyor belt. I enter into partnership to create stories that matter.
Curators and galleries
Personal and group exhibitions, art residencies, curatorial projects. I am ready to provide works from The Humans v.21 project or develop a new exposition for the concept of your venue.
Publications and media
Documentary photo stories, reportages, editorial portraits. I work with platforms that value not just the “picture, ” but the depth of narrative and the ethical purity of the material.
NGOs and charitable foundations
Visual support for social and humanitarian missions. tell complex stories in such a way as to evoke not pity, but empathy and understanding.
Festivals and biennials
Participation i professional reviews, portfolio reviews, lectures on documentary photography and the ethics of the gaze.
Conscious brands
Documentary projects for companies that share the aesthetics and humanistic principles o the project. Only real stories, without staged falseness.
The Humans v.21. Memory against oblivion.
The Humans v.21. Dignity against invisibility.
MEMORY AGAINST OBLIVION
- Memory against oblivion.
- Presence against indifference.
- Dignity against invisibility.
I capture those who refused to disappear. So that tomorrow they do not become numbers in statistics. So that their faces look at us through the years — and remind us: we are all part of one story.
Every frame has its own time and its own viewer. These people may disappear. Their cities may be erased from maps. Their stories may be forgotten. But I have seen their eyes. I have heard their voices.
The Humans v.21 — stories that must be told.
