November 22, 2004 is the twentieth anniversary of the Orange Revolution, which began as a protest against the fraudulent 2004 presidential election in Ukraine. The event got its name from the color used by supporters of presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko and the opposition party Our Ukraine. In contrast, supporters of Viktor Yanukovych were associated with the white and blue colors of their symbols.
The Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers publishes photos by Andriy Lomakin, who photographed the events of the Orange Revolution in Kyiv.
The Orange Revolution was a campaign of rallies and protests organized by supporters of the main opposition candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, in the presidential election in late 2004 after the announcement of preliminary results by the Central Election Commission.
On November 21, 2004, the second round of voting was held, with Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko as opponents. In the western and central regions of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko had the advantage, while in the southern and eastern regions Viktor Yanukovych had the advantage. Before the second round, Yushchenko headed a coalition that included the candidates from the first round, Yulia Tymoshenko, Oleksandr Moroz, and Anatoliy Kinakh. Viktor Yanukovych relied on the maximum turnout of his potential electorate in the eastern regions of Ukraine. The incumbent president, Leonid Kuchma, did not support the prime minister's candidacy and two days before the second round recognized the election campaign as unfair. He assured that the government would do everything to prevent the situation from escalating into a revolution.
After the preliminary official results were announced, Viktor Yanukovych won by a small margin of 3%. The announced election results differed significantly from the exit polls. Supporters of the opposition candidate and most foreign observers believed that Viktor Yanukovych's team had rigged the election.
The day after the vote, on November 22, Ukrainians took to the streets of Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities to protest massive election fraud. Thousands of people from all over Ukraine came to Kyiv to defend their rights. People united on the Maidan and demanded fair presidential elections. Supporters of Viktor Yushchenko and the Our Ukraine party began to set up a tent city on Kyiv's Independence Square. Initially, the number of protesters in Kyiv was about thirty thousand, and the next day this number increased to one hundred thousand. On November 23, 2004, four hundred tents were already set up on Khreshchatyk. People shouted slogans, sang songs, and demanded new elections. Instead, on November 24, the Central Election Commission approved the official protocol of the second round of elections. The then Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Volodymyr Lytvyn, announced that no state body had the authority to cancel the election results. The incumbent President Leonid Kuchma called for no force to be used against the protesters and for a solution to the situation.
On November 27, at an extraordinary meeting of the Verkhovna Rada, MPs expressed no confidence in the Central Election Commission. A week later, on December 3, the Supreme Court of Ukraine announced its verdict: “Given the impossibility of publishing the official results of the second round of elections, a second vote shall be held on December 26, 2004.”
After almost two weeks of rallies and demonstrations, a second round of elections was scheduled and amendments to the Constitution were adopted. On December 8, as a result of the Verkhovna Rada's vote, Ukraine became a parliamentary-presidential republic. On December 26, Viktor Yushchenko won the second round of elections. According to unofficial reports, a total of three to seven million Ukrainians took part in the protests.
“If we compare the Orange Revolution with the events of the following years, it was even festive. Perhaps because of the constant snow, or because of the orange color - so bright, so warm, which filled absolutely everything,” recalls photographer Andriy Lomakin. ”There were no clashes, no shooting, no sense of aggression, but rather a confidence that everything would end very well. The atmosphere was generally pleasant, even a bit theatrical.”
Andriy Lomakin started taking pictures a few years before the Orange Revolution. He says that at that time, he did not have enough skills to shoot demonstrations and events of that scale. Lomakin worked for a sports magazine and mostly photographed football and basketball games, various competitions, etc. “When the Orange Revolution started, I realized right away that I had to take pictures. Even if the pictures were bad, even if they were not very successful, I had to take them. I had a feeling that these were important events for the history of Ukraine,” says the photographer. ”I took pictures mostly in the evening after work, but they were understanding and let me go earlier.
Andriy Lomakin photographed Kyiv's Independence Square, the Dnipro embankment, the train station and circus, and polling stations. “At the time, we were a group of five photographers, and we wanted to put together a big project about the presidential election. Shooting on the Maidan in Kyiv was to be one of the components of the project. “We wanted to make a snapshot of the event - to film the life of protesters, protests, voting, etc.,” explains Andriy Lomakin. However, the project remained “raw,” and we were unable to select photos for the story from the footage. None of us had any experience shooting such photo projects. We were all excited, but we didn't really understand what to photograph and how to do it.” The famous Kyiv photographer Viktor Suvorov, who was the ideological inspirer of the project, died in a car accident, and fellow photographers finally abandoned the idea of creating a large project about the Orange Revolution.”
For Andrii Lomakin, shooting the Orange Revolution was his first experience working with protesters. He recalls that he had to communicate a lot with people, not just walk around and click the camera. “Despite the warm and favorable atmosphere, it was still psychologically difficult to photograph so many people. Before that, I took amateur black-and-white street photography, and then I was into sports,” says Andrii.
“I had an interesting moment while filming the Maidan. I was photographing a basketball game, and then immediately ran to document the revolution,” says Lomakin. ”At the basketball game, we were given a badge with a wide blue ribbon. Let me remind you that blue was the symbol of Viktor Yanukovych's election campaign. I put the badge in my pocket, and the ribbon, as it turned out later, was peeking out. In this form, I entered the tents of Yushchenko's supporters. I was surprised that, despite the blue ribbon, everyone was very nice and kind.”
The photographer recalls that he talked to a lot of people, but he did not keep any contacts or names. The Orange Revolution took place twenty years ago, followed by the Revolution of Dignity, and the memories of these events are mixed. Now only photographs help him recall the chronology. “A lot of memories were pushed out by the second Maidan, which was much more violent,” says Andriy Lomakin. During the Orange Revolution, there were also clashes, but they were the exception. Lomakin recalls filming Yanukovych supporters who almost pushed his colleague Ivan Chernichkin off a parapet. However, in general, the atmosphere was calm, and people were ready for positive changes.
Andriy Lomakin even came to the shoot with his son, who was two years old at the time. “My son was sitting on my shoulders, I went everywhere with him, showed him around the Maidan,” says the photographer. ”The Orange Revolution was even like a holiday. It was very bright, and I don't even know what other event it can be compared to. The Orange Revolution was full of kindness and filled with hope. Hope for the future.”
We worked on the material:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Katya Moskalyuk
Editor-in-chief: Viacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary editor: Yulia Futey
Website manager: Vladyslav Kukhar
November 22, 2004 is the twentieth anniversary of the Orange Revolution, which began as a protest against the fraudulent 2004 presidential election in Ukraine. The event got its name from the color used by supporters of presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko and the opposition party Our Ukraine. In contrast, supporters of Viktor Yanukovych were associated with the white and blue colors of their symbols.
The Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers publishes photos by Andriy Lomakin, who photographed the events of the Orange Revolution in Kyiv.
The Orange Revolution was a campaign of rallies and protests organized by supporters of the main opposition candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, in the presidential election in late 2004 after the announcement of preliminary results by the Central Election Commission.
On November 21, 2004, the second round of voting was held, with Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko as opponents. In the western and central regions of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko had the advantage, while in the southern and eastern regions Viktor Yanukovych had the advantage. Before the second round, Yushchenko headed a coalition that included the candidates from the first round, Yulia Tymoshenko, Oleksandr Moroz, and Anatoliy Kinakh. Viktor Yanukovych relied on the maximum turnout of his potential electorate in the eastern regions of Ukraine. The incumbent president, Leonid Kuchma, did not support the prime minister's candidacy and two days before the second round recognized the election campaign as unfair. He assured that the government would do everything to prevent the situation from escalating into a revolution.
After the preliminary official results were announced, Viktor Yanukovych won by a small margin of 3%. The announced election results differed significantly from the exit polls. Supporters of the opposition candidate and most foreign observers believed that Viktor Yanukovych's team had rigged the election.
The day after the vote, on November 22, Ukrainians took to the streets of Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities to protest massive election fraud. Thousands of people from all over Ukraine came to Kyiv to defend their rights. People united on the Maidan and demanded fair presidential elections. Supporters of Viktor Yushchenko and the Our Ukraine party began to set up a tent city on Kyiv's Independence Square. Initially, the number of protesters in Kyiv was about thirty thousand, and the next day this number increased to one hundred thousand. On November 23, 2004, four hundred tents were already set up on Khreshchatyk. People shouted slogans, sang songs, and demanded new elections. Instead, on November 24, the Central Election Commission approved the official protocol of the second round of elections. The then Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Volodymyr Lytvyn, announced that no state body had the authority to cancel the election results. The incumbent President Leonid Kuchma called for no force to be used against the protesters and for a solution to the situation.
On November 27, at an extraordinary meeting of the Verkhovna Rada, MPs expressed no confidence in the Central Election Commission. A week later, on December 3, the Supreme Court of Ukraine announced its verdict: “Given the impossibility of publishing the official results of the second round of elections, a second vote shall be held on December 26, 2004.”
After almost two weeks of rallies and demonstrations, a second round of elections was scheduled and amendments to the Constitution were adopted. On December 8, as a result of the Verkhovna Rada's vote, Ukraine became a parliamentary-presidential republic. On December 26, Viktor Yushchenko won the second round of elections. According to unofficial reports, a total of three to seven million Ukrainians took part in the protests.
“If we compare the Orange Revolution with the events of the following years, it was even festive. Perhaps because of the constant snow, or because of the orange color - so bright, so warm, which filled absolutely everything,” recalls photographer Andriy Lomakin. ”There were no clashes, no shooting, no sense of aggression, but rather a confidence that everything would end very well. The atmosphere was generally pleasant, even a bit theatrical.”
Andriy Lomakin started taking pictures a few years before the Orange Revolution. He says that at that time, he did not have enough skills to shoot demonstrations and events of that scale. Lomakin worked for a sports magazine and mostly photographed football and basketball games, various competitions, etc. “When the Orange Revolution started, I realized right away that I had to take pictures. Even if the pictures were bad, even if they were not very successful, I had to take them. I had a feeling that these were important events for the history of Ukraine,” says the photographer. ”I took pictures mostly in the evening after work, but they were understanding and let me go earlier.
Andriy Lomakin photographed Kyiv's Independence Square, the Dnipro embankment, the train station and circus, and polling stations. “At the time, we were a group of five photographers, and we wanted to put together a big project about the presidential election. Shooting on the Maidan in Kyiv was to be one of the components of the project. “We wanted to make a snapshot of the event - to film the life of protesters, protests, voting, etc.,” explains Andriy Lomakin. However, the project remained “raw,” and we were unable to select photos for the story from the footage. None of us had any experience shooting such photo projects. We were all excited, but we didn't really understand what to photograph and how to do it.” The famous Kyiv photographer Viktor Suvorov, who was the ideological inspirer of the project, died in a car accident, and fellow photographers finally abandoned the idea of creating a large project about the Orange Revolution.”
For Andrii Lomakin, shooting the Orange Revolution was his first experience working with protesters. He recalls that he had to communicate a lot with people, not just walk around and click the camera. “Despite the warm and favorable atmosphere, it was still psychologically difficult to photograph so many people. Before that, I took amateur black-and-white street photography, and then I was into sports,” says Andrii.
“I had an interesting moment while filming the Maidan. I was photographing a basketball game, and then immediately ran to document the revolution,” says Lomakin. ”At the basketball game, we were given a badge with a wide blue ribbon. Let me remind you that blue was the symbol of Viktor Yanukovych's election campaign. I put the badge in my pocket, and the ribbon, as it turned out later, was peeking out. In this form, I entered the tents of Yushchenko's supporters. I was surprised that, despite the blue ribbon, everyone was very nice and kind.”
The photographer recalls that he talked to a lot of people, but he did not keep any contacts or names. The Orange Revolution took place twenty years ago, followed by the Revolution of Dignity, and the memories of these events are mixed. Now only photographs help him recall the chronology. “A lot of memories were pushed out by the second Maidan, which was much more violent,” says Andriy Lomakin. During the Orange Revolution, there were also clashes, but they were the exception. Lomakin recalls filming Yanukovych supporters who almost pushed his colleague Ivan Chernichkin off a parapet. However, in general, the atmosphere was calm, and people were ready for positive changes.
Andriy Lomakin even came to the shoot with his son, who was two years old at the time. “My son was sitting on my shoulders, I went everywhere with him, showed him around the Maidan,” says the photographer. ”The Orange Revolution was even like a holiday. It was very bright, and I don't even know what other event it can be compared to. The Orange Revolution was full of kindness and filled with hope. Hope for the future.”
We worked on the material:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Katya Moskalyuk
Editor-in-chief: Viacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary editor: Yulia Futey
Website manager: Vladyslav Kukhar
UAPP is an independent association of professional Ukrainian photographers, designed to protect their interests, support, develop and promote Ukrainian photography as an important element of national culture.
UAPP's activities span educational, social, research and cultural initiatives, as well as book publishing.
UAPP represents Ukrainian professional photography in the international photographic community and is an official member of the Federation of European Photographers (FEP) — an international organization representing more than 50,000 professional photographers in Europe and other countries around the world.
