Archive of photographer Oleksandr Ranchukov

Mala Gallery Laboratory of Contemporary Art of Mystetskyi Arsenal presents a new exhibition project "Archive of photographer Oleksandr Ranchukov".

Olexandr Ranchukov's archive covers more than 40 years of his photographic practice. On his photographs - architecture, landscapes, street scenes of everyday life, all made on black and white film.

The exhibition will feature artefacts and archival photographs from the 1980s — scanned negatives, prepared for printing with minimal intervention. Documentary photographer Ranchukov, in his own words, did not consider himself an artist, and his photographs - art. He emphasized that documentary photography cannot be considered artistic, because it is not staged, artificially created, but is only a fixation of reality. However, the study of his archive, and therefore the method, consistently reveals the multiplicity of views on his practice as a documentalist and artist.

In most of Olexander Ranchukov's photographs it can be traced an almost scientific, meticulous style of architectural photography — the main sphere of professional activity of a photographer. He works with the fabric of the city, with the street as a reflection of the history of the place, its subconscious and socio-cultural processes. Skilfully working as a photographer of architecture, Ranchukov was also an attentive observer of the social, human. He portrayed what surrounded him, foremost telling about his time and his city.

 

Mala Gallery Laboratory of Contemporary Art expresses gratitude to the daughter of the photographer Klavdia Dimidova-Ranchukova for the provided archive and to the art critic, researcher of photography Oleksandr Liapin for consulting and assistance in creating the project.

Oleksandr Ranchukov (1943 - 2019, Kyiv) is a Ukrainian photographer. He studied at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and the Institute of Journalism in Kyiv. He worked as a photographer at the Research Institute of Theory and History of Architecture and Urban Planning (1978 - 1996). Over the course of his career he has collaborated with numerous architectural magazines. In 1987, together with Oleksandr Liapin, Oleksandr Kozulko and Valeriy Reshetnyak, he founded the “Pogliad” photographic group, which then had a great influence on the formation of new documentary photography in Ukraine.
Ranchukov's exhibitions were held in Ukraine, France, Germany, Lithuania, and the United States. His photographs can be found in the publications: "Those Were the Times, photographs by Oleksandr Ranchukov", "Over the roofs. Kyiv: city and time", "Approaching photography", "Architectural image of Kyiv", "Kyiv. The city where M. Bulgakov lived", "Kyiv, 70s - 80s" and others.

Gallery opening hours: 
Monday to Friday, 12:00 to 20:00