“Black Sea of Concrete” is another series of Rafał Milach, that is devoted to the countries of the former Soviet Union. Assigned by a Belgium-based NGO, Altemus, to photograph contemporary Ukraine, it focuses on portraits, landscapes and the life of the people of the Crimea region. ”Black Sea of Concrete”, won the Grand Prize of “Photography Book Now”, print on demand at blurb.com. You can get a copy here.
“In December 2008 I started my trip at the Russian–Ukrainian border and the Ukrainian Black Sea coast. The beauty of the landscape side-by-side with overwhelming and omnipresent Soviet architecture struck me. I wanted to shoot the story in wintertime when the tourists are gone and the landscapes are raw and empty. Five years have passed since the “Orange Revolution” — when Ukraine gained independence from Russian influence — and I found people have already lost the hope for change. The coast showed me how strongly Ukraine is attached to its Soviet past. The first thing you notice by the sea is the concrete. Kilometers of grey blocks sometimes painted with blue and yellow, the national colors of Ukraine. You can feel the soviet past at once. It looks surreal and it doesn’t match the beautiful landscape that surrounds you. Industrial zones and the iron waste by the sea don’t remind harmonic idyll between nature and man. People have changed the landscape in a very brutal way here. But the sea fights back for its natural shape and territory. Local people seem to respect the power of the sea. Nevertheless at he same time they thoughtlessly devastate it. This wired symbiosis makes this piece of land fascinating. I went to the Ukrainian Black Sea coast to explore this mutual influence and relation between the man and sea. Ukraine is the country in transition and for the last few years has been looking for its new identity. In my opinion so has the Black Sea coast.” - Rafał Milach
Yura / Kerch © Rafał Milach
Olya / Sevastopol © Rafał Milach
Fishing harbor / Ilichovsk © Rafał Milach
Theodosia © Rafał Milach
Ilichovsk © Rafał Milach
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#Rafał Milach #Black Sea of Concrete
