Photos in the photo album «Cyanotype. At the level of the clouds. Hutsuliia» are made in an alternative technique and covered with lavender-scented varnish and gloss-wax. There you can see people, unique handicrafts which have been preserved in the Hutsul Region, and the authenticity of Carpathian life in general. As the author noted, all photos are situational and show his reflection on Ukrainian beauty, identity, and originality. Also, during the presentation, it was possible to see an exhibition of the artist’s works. Fr. Andrii decided to donate proceeds from the sale of the photo album to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
First, the floor was given to Yurii Kovalchyk, a Ukrainian photographer and professor, who together with Fr. Andrii went through this creative path to the creation of a photo album. Mr. Kovalchyk noted that the uniqueness of the book is that it was made in a new, interesting way, using an alternative technique. This is, for sure, a book about the Ukrainian Carpathians.
«Sometimes I joke that Andrii can sit on two chairs at the same time, because he has wings behind his back. Speaking of these two chairs, I mean, first of all, ethnography, because his book is clearly full of ethnography, and the second chair is art. He managed to organically combine both. The photo album was published in a small edition, so I can confidently say that one day these editions will become a real bibliographic rarity», emphasized Yurii Kovalchyk.
The author of the book, Fr. Andrii Aftanas, said that he decided to focus on the Carpathians, because he loves this region very much and often goes there, and he also set himself a goal of capturing the authenticity of the life of the region, which has not been lost yet.
«This photo album is my reflection on the beauty of the Hutsul region, its identity, originality, and self-sufficiency of those people, which, by the way, today our enemy denies. My photo album is a response to these objections, an affirmation that we are and we are strong, self-sufficient, and have a long and deep history. Why did I choose the Carpathians? Well, first of all, because I love this region very much, I often go there, I was impressed by its originality and the unlost authenticity of life. Unfortunately, we won’t see a lot of things in the Carpathians today, so I wanted to record what is still there. Therefore, I tried to capture everything that the Carpathians live by today, I deliberately recorded situational moments.
As for the technique, I will say that it was not easy to achieve the subtleties of performance. I messed up a lot of paper, I tried many times. Of course, there were disappointments and thoughts that nothing would be possible, but in the end, my efforts have finally paid off», remarked Fr. Andrii Aftanas.
At the end, the author of the album wished everyone to do what they love, because in order to create something good, the desires of the heart, the vision, and the tool in our hands must come together.
