Elena Subach (UA, b. 1980) lives and works in Lviv, Ukraine. It was only after she received a Master’s degree in Economics that Subach first turned to photography. Largely self-taught, Subach is best known for her amalgamations of photography and post-production techniques such as collage to represent her worldview. More recently, Russia’s full-scale invasion has turned the photographer’s practice towards documentation: her aim is to record history as it unfolds in front of her eyes.
At Foto Tallinn, Subach presents her Chairs on the Border project.
“I didn’t dare to interfere in their already fragile and ruined private spaces. Chairs with objects left on them: they seemed to me like islands among waves of people. Islands, that is, where one could stop and rest for a moment. And then all these people disappeared over the horizon, the unknown awaiting them. I have never seen so much love, as well as so much pain. Almost every man took pictures of his children and wife as a memento of their farewell. I really want to believe that these will not be their last photographs.”
Artist is part of the special presentation Essential Goods: Contemporary Ukrainian Photography
