Lviv photographer Marta Syrko on the Sculptural project, The Bachelor, inclusivity, the body, and trauma

Lviv photographer Marta Sirko created a series of photos with Ukrainian veterans who lost limbs in the war. The author devoted her project “Sculpture” to art based on ancient Greek statues. Today, the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers publishes a conversation with the author and her photos.

‍

— Martha, who do you position yourself? Who are you?

— In fact, I have been engaged in photography all my life, so I position myself as a photographer. I am also passionate about art history, in particular I teach art history.

‍

— Tell us what projects you worked on before the full-scale Russian invasion?

— It so happened that for ten years I photographed all the time in nude style. I worked with physicality. But somewhere in 2019-2020, a deeper awareness of corporeality and acceptance came to me. People's bodies are very diverse. This fashionable word “diversity” came to me, so I began to study it with the help of photography. I photographed older people naked, including my grandmothers and grandfathers. They had no choice and agreed to shoot, but only because they liked what I was doing. It seems to me that I aesthetize any body I touch. Perhaps it is the influence of the Renaissance or Baroque. I try to present any body in a more picturesque and aesthetic way. Even if it is documentary, I still want to add some note of art.

‍

‍

I also shot various projects with children with Down syndrome. It was also a challenge for me. When I thought about motherhood, I had many internal questions and thus a project called “The Sun Within” was formed. Now, by the way, we have come to the point that children with Down syndrome can no longer be called “sunny”. I agree with that. I like what I see now in society in relation to inclusion: we learn to speak, think and coexist with each other properly.

‍

‍

I discovered many moments for myself. For example, people could not accept that I was photographing a woman, in their view, overweight. She played sports, she liked her body, she lived happily, but her fullness was an eyesore to people. I was wondering why people react to it that way. Then I filmed a woman who had huge scars and stretched skin after having a baby and, for example, had a much more positive attitude towards her. I also had many questions about feminism and its development in Ukraine. And then there was a great war.

‍

— People who come to you for a photo shoot are confident or vulnerable? Do your photos help them to look at themselves in a different way? Maybe accept yourself?

“I have always had more empathy for women, because it has happened that in our culture, there is still a certain attitude towards appearance. People live with complexes. I did not think that I would be somehow connected with this and also work psychologically: trying to reveal a person during the shooting and focus on the beautiful parts of their body that are aesthetically attractive. I never thought I would explain to a woman that she is beautiful and she has no problems. I met women who had to be convinced: “You just met the wrong person. She broke your psyche, and there was nothing to break, because you are fine. You're all right! You're getting too tight!” During photo shoots, I always try to support my heroes, explain to them that everything is beautiful. In general, I always really want to say that all people are beautiful, so that they live peacefully.

‍

‍

— Maybe you remember some story of a hero or heroine when a person saw his own photos and changed his attitude towards himself?

“I remember shooting an older woman and she didn't like the photos, but she didn't like them from a technical point of view. She explained that the girls on Instagram that I photograph look wrong. For me it was a turning point. I realized that I needed to focus as much as possible on reality, on what a person is. Much has changed since then. For example, I had a situation where a girl with the fourth stage of scoliosis wanted to arrange a memory scan for herself before surgery to correct the spine. She wanted to remember what she looked like. And she liked the works, she published them. Despite the fact that we have to hide such moments. It seems to me that this is completely normal. We are all different.

‍

‍

— How did the idea of the “Sculpture” project come about?

“In the last months before the invasion of the Russians, I worked with athletes. My work was presented at exhibitions and people asked, “Is this a real person or a sculpture?” It was deposited in my head. Therefore, I can say that many paths led me to the project “Sculptural”. That is, he did not appear from anywhere.

‍

‍

The project “Sculptural” involves all the people who suffered as a result of a full-scale invasion. They undergo rehabilitation and prosthetics at the Superhumans Center. Most of them are veterans, but there is also one civilian woman from Soledar. She is the oldest of these heroes of mine. The project has not yet been completed, but I do not focus on it. I'm not looking for heroes myself, personally. However, now, for example, we are shooting a documentary about heroes. And due to the fact that the project, in fact, has grown into a new form, it is necessary to work with new stories. More and more people are injured, and not everyone is able to adapt. They are very helpful in the center psychologically. This is an incredible job by the doctors who work there. Honestly, I do not want to finish this project just because I am immersed in each story, and each story is unique, each person tells it differently, perceives the injury differently, and it affects her later life.

‍

‍

— Tell us about your first hero who agreed to shoot. What were your expectations for this shoot and how did it all come back?

— My first hero is the current “Bachelor” Oleksandr Budko. His life went well and turned around! He is, by the way, one of the smaller number of guys who completely undressed. Many, for example, do not want to remove the laundry, so we cover it with a cloth. That is, the idea is to identify with Greco-Roman sculptures, which for the most part, not all of them of course, but had drapery. And the drapery was the main element of any marble or any other sculpture.

‍

‍

We shot Sasha for only 15 minutes, because it was during the blackout period. Despite this, our brief cooperation developed into a long-term friendship and support. With many of my heroes, I continue to communicate, learn how to do things. Someone has already given birth to children, someone has married, and so on. Someone sooner did it, even than me. Sasha is an incredibly talented guy who just tears everyone around and builds himself an incredibly good career. He and we, as a society, need it, because he just tells people: “Hello! Inclusivity! Good afternoon!” By his example, he does more than I did with my niche only in circles that were interested in art. It was still a small part of the people.

‍

‍

— Does your heroes' perception of their trauma transform after the photo shoot? What are they talking about?

— Zakhar, lost two arms, an eye and a leg. And it is he who tells me about acceptance and stoicism, positive thinking and about life in general. This is the last character I shot. Zakhar was treated in Germany. He says that it was not everywhere comfortable to ride in a wheelchair. Although there are comfortable cities and places. And in our country... Yes, I understand that this is all a question of financing. Accessibility is a very important thing because an incredible number of people have been injured in two and a half years.

‍

‍

Maybe I take it so acutely because this problem was close to my family. My grandfather, being blind, could not go anywhere. Despite the fact that we lived in a house for the blind. Now they say in a house with people with visual impairments. And he could not leave without the accompaniment of another person. Especially getting older, he could not go out at all. I remember his condition when you feel weak and a burden to someone. Because you can't do it yourself and you have to ask someone to help all the time. It's a very difficult moment to overpower yourself and ask for help. My grandfather was very nervous about it. Although we were his family, we loved him, but he felt guilty because he had to constantly ask someone for something. Therefore, there is still the question of how the family perceives and reacts to everything. Family members are also now having a hard time, because they really have more responsibilities. This is a huge problem that is little talked about. They accuse me that I took good pictures and left. Yes, I remembered, but I at least reminded of it with my works.

‍

Marto, what's next? Can you say already what you plan to do with this project “Sculptural”?

— The project is also expanding naturally. I find through rehabilitologists the civilians I photograph. We are talking about different types of damage, injuries, losses. We are also shooting a documentary film with director Sasha Brama. We want to tell the stories of the heroes. This film will be translated into English. I think he really needs to be seen by an international audience. Well, at the finish, I would like a book or exhibition to come out, but in some acceptable space. In my opinion, how people look at works printed in the right space has more of an impact on their emotional range and how they will remember those works. This is very important from a diplomatic point of view.

‍

‍

What other picture do you want to take? Or maybe what other characters would you like to portray?

I just want to keep taking pictures. I am very often disappointed that now the content is fleeting and many do not appreciate photography. My goal is to just do it so that in the future I have an audience that would really stop and have time to look at the work and reflect. Now it is very difficult to keep an eye. In fact, our information field is so saturated and clogged that, sometimes, something very valuable is simply lost in this stream. Yes, you are lost and you have to play by the same rules, because otherwise it does not work out. You also have to create posts, plan content, in order to at least somehow reach the audience with works that take a little more time.

‍

Material created with support The Free Word Foundation.

‍

Marta Sirko — 29-year-old photographer from Lviv, art critic by education. She is engaged in conceptual photography, explores the corporeal with her photo projects.

‍InstagramMarti.

‍

The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Vera Labych
Bildeditor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary Editor: Julia Foutei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar

‍

Material created with support The Free Word Foundation.