NA4JOPM8 | Igor Chekachkov | 2017 | Ukraine

For Igor Chekchakov ‘NA4JOPM8’ is an attempt to accept the destruction of his ten-year archive, both personal and professional, which happened when his hard disk with 250 000 images on it had a malfunction. When it was repaired, all images appeared mixed together, which resulted in new images, all marked by digital artefacts. Unexpectedly, this loss allowed the Kharkiv born photographer to realize the artistic task he had set himself for several years - to associate in a single photographic work the intimate with the public. "During the events of the Maidan I had strong feelings. I wanted to make such a work, where there is not only Maidan or AntiMaidan, but a coherent representation of what it is to be a part if it."

I Give You My Face Portrait | Tihomir Stoyanov | Imaginary Archive | 2017 | Bulgaria

I Give You My Face Portrait by Tihomir Stoyanov takes us back to a forgotten tradition of giving each other printed portraits with messages. This project includes passport-sized photographs, taken between 1930 and 1991, which Tihomir Stoyanov selected among hundreds of similar photos found at the flea market. In 2015, Tihomir established the Imaginary Archive, a Bulgarian archive of found photography, which includes more than 10,000 negatives and slides.

And while these projects certainly demonstrate the flexibility of the medium of photography as a form of expression, they also stand to the ability of an image to contain its history in its form, which in turn gives us clues about the context the author and their work.

Pershe Veresnya | Photography & Video | Gorsad Kiev | 2018 | Ukraine

‘Pershe Veresnya’ (1st of September) by Gorsad Kiev consists of observations of school kids from the suburbs of Kiev, who are experiencing the new unknown of adulthood. Gorsad's subjects often appear seated in front of a white background, with knives or other strange objects and parts of undefined interior peaking into the frame. Through their consistent work with flash and 35mm film they’ve managed to create a distinct visual language which transports successfully the intensity of their work.

As a part of SKIP INTRO, Gorsad are also presenting a short film in three cycles which further expands into the strange world the three photographers from Kiev create for those they photograph.

Cicha Woda | Piotr Pietrus | 2018 | Poland

Piotr Pietrus’ images from his new work ‘Cicha Woda’ read like a dream sequence of multiple levels of subtle symbolism. His images appear deceitfully calm, but there is a certain underlying pressure to this work, a rhythm which blends the line between what is and what appears to be, between intimate and public and exposes the vulnerability of existence on the background of events beyond our control.

YatFTIL | Svitlana Levchenko | 2018 | Ukraine

"In my childhood, I often heard you are not beautiful, you are pretty" says Odessa-born Svitlana Levchenko and continues ‘I grew up with this knowledge and it became an indisputable axiom.’ " In her recent work 'YatFTIL' she explores the limitations of self-confidence and its effects on the female experience. This is a work which is focused on the limitations posed by superficiality and the fact that in most cultures today, female identity is still being reduced to a woman’s beauty.

Vernissage: 3rd of October 2018 @Art Stalker | Kaiser-Friedrich-Straße 67 | 10627 Berlin