“We are creating a united community”
Holder of Den’s 2014 Photo Exhibit Grand Prix on his path from a person without a camera to a regular winner of photo contests
Mykola Tymchenko is our colleague, Den’s photo reporter. He has been working for the newspaper since 2011, that is why it is especially pleasant that he was the one to receive the Grand Prix from Prominvestbank this year for his work Maidan. January 22, 2014. His work was appreciated and recognized as the best photograph of the 16th International Den’s Photo Contest: first deputy chairman of Prominvestbank management board Viacheslav Yutkin personally handed the award to the winner. This is not only recognition of Tymchenko’s professionalism, but also a compliment to all of us, Den’s staff: we are one of the best.
Grasping the opportunity, Den asked Tymchenko about his most successful shots, everyday work on self-improvement, Den’s photo school which shapes and provides guidelines in work, and many other important things. Before the interview, I asked Tymchenko what he planned to spend the money prize on. He said that among other things, after paying all the necessary taxes, he would donate a part of the money for the needs of Ukrainian soldiers. And then he explained that he had developed a habit of giving a tenth of his income to support our army: this is a kind of modern tithe. It is one more detail added to Tymchenko’s portrait as a photographer who manages to reveal people’s nature in his photos. It is simple: you need to love your characters, know and understand them. Or at least attempt to do it.
“My history with Den’s Photo Contest, and photography in general, started many years ago, in 2003. I used to work as a sales manager back then and was quite strange to the world of photography. Once, my friends and I spontaneously came to the Ukrainian House to Den’s photo exhibition. I did not know a single photographer back then, not a single name under photos rang a bell to me. But the photos moved me. I remembered works by Mykola Lazarenko. It was one of the first names I learned. I remember I liked the diversity at the exhibition: from political reporting to jolly scenes from everyday life, from anxiety to happiness.”
“YOU MUST TRY TO CAPTURE EVERYTHING WHEN HISTORIC EVENTS ARE TAKING PLACE”
You became interested and decided to buy a camera back then?
“No. I just looked at the photos, and that was it. And next year, I came to Den’s photo exhibition on purpose. Then I bought a cheap hand-held camera, took pictures of my friends, flowers, animals – everything that beginners usually photograph. Later on, I purchased a digital reflex camera, and the timing was perfect because the Orange Revolution had just started, and I was already taking pictures of people and events at Maidan. However, there were not too many of them, I was working and didn’t have a lot of free time. Now I understand that you must try to capture everything when historic events are happening. It is possible that the majority of these photos will never be printed or published for a general audience, but you must record history. And back then I used to come to Maidan at night and snap a few shots.”
When did you send photos to Den’s photo contest for the first time?
“In 2009. I selected various photos, there were sad ones, and optimistic too. I chose shots that seemed to be non-banal, interesting, and possessed quality from technical perspective. I did not receive a single award. But I was not disappointed. I looked at the exhibit from a different angle, realized that I had to submit a slightly different type of photos, work on my skills, create a unique style of photography.
“And in 2010 I received my first award as a photographer at Den’s photo exhibition. It was a great pleasure, it inspired me, and I understood that I was moving in the right direction when I chose photography. Back then, I had no idea I would receive the Grand Prix of the photo contest in a few years (smiles).”
“NOW I HAVE TO MAINTAIN THE LEVEL I ROSE TO”
What does the Grand Prix mean to you?
“First of all, it is responsibility. Now I have to maintain this level, avoid making ‘okay’ photos because of bad mood or laziness, or light-headed attitude towards the shooting, which I might find unimportant or uninteresting. I do not have such a right because I received the Grand Prix and joined the photo artists who had done so in previous years. It is great responsibility for me and great pleasure. I am Den’s photo reporter, my photos, as well as those taken by my colleagues, are the newspaper’s hallmark: an apt photo, especially on the front page, sets the tone, shows the reader that this is quality press, in which all details are thought through, that our staff respects the reader. I felt very honored and privileged to receive the Grand Prix, this gives me confidence in myself as a photographer, but in the first place, it is responsibility. I want to thank Den’s editor-in-chief Larysa Ivshyna, our photography editorial staff, and my colleagues who help me stay in shape with their ideas, advice, and criticism.
“Coming to work for Den, which has many years of photography tradition and a developed school of photography, is a challenge for a photographer. In the beginnings your knowledge and understanding of Den’s specifics is on level zero. But very soon you learn about those who started the paper, who shaped its esthetics, principles, and unique photo style. You look at their photos, analyze, and finally become inspired. These are Leonid Bakka, Mykola Lazarenko, Mykhailo Markiv, Borys Korpusenko, Ruslan Kaniuka and many others, whose names are well-known outside Ukraine. In is necessary to know those who laid the foundation of Den’s school of photography. Otherwise you can make a lot of beautiful and technically perfect shots, but it would be hard to make those which will claim to be something more than mere shots.”
“EACH VIVID PHOTO IS PRECEDED BY TENS AND HUNDREDS OF ORDINARY ONES, BY PREPARATIONS, AND SOMETIMES EVEN ROUTINE WORK”
Did you feel a difference in comparison to your previous photographing experience after coming to work for Den in 2011?
“I immediately saw that photography is treated differently here. It is not the ‘service personnel’ of text, but equal to it, and sometimes even more important than words. It must be more than just a shot, than a mere capturing of the moment. It must open contexts and subtexts of the situation, process, or phenomenon described in an article to a thoughtful reader, that is, to add sense to articles instead of distracting attention.
“Of course, this raises the bar for a photographer significantly, forces to expand your worldview, read and listen a lot, develop yourself. Otherwise you will not be able to capture a photo that carries new senses or generalizes a phenomenon. This is not simple. And of course, not all of my photos are successful. But I am working on this. Each vivid photo is preceded by tens and hundreds of ordinary ones, by preparations, and sometimes even routine work. For example, this photo exhibit features my photo, in which Angela Merkel is standing in the background and a dove is flying in the forefront. A lot of photographers were at that event, the majority focused on Merkel’s movements, gestures, facial expressions. I had plenty of such shots too. But then I noticed the dove, wriggled between my colleagues’ cameras, and froze, waiting to see it fly. And then it flew (smiles). Good shots are often occasional luck, but more often they are a result of some thoughtful work.”
“DEN’S PHOTO EXHIBITION IS A PHENOMENON. I DISCOVERED A LOT OF MY COLLEAGUES ANEW HERE”
You are one of the photo contest’s jury members, you participate in the initial selection of submitted photos [Den does not award the photos, winners are chosen and prizes are awarded by the contest’s partners. Den’s editor-in-chief Larysa Ivshyna awards one prize, Den’s Golden Award to one photographer. – Ed.]. This is special work, because you virtually are forming a competition field, gathering photos for the exhibition and discovering new names.
“It was harder this year than the previous one. There were a lot of photos from Maidan and the ATO area. And we were trying to select photos that denoted phenomena or symbols, to look for new images. We decided to abandon the excessive shocking naturalism, because the horrors of war can be shown through details, images, and this will make a stronger impression than just cruel scenes. Besides, we did not forget the long-standing tradition of selecting optimistic photographs, ones that contain humor. Today it is especially important.
“Den’s photo exhibition is a phenomenon. I discovered a lot of my colleagues anew here. I know many of them, more or less follow their work, which of their photos are published and where. But the photo contest gave me an opportunity to assess the scope of the work they are doing. A lot of photos are unconventional for the periodicals where they work, or they are developing a specific theme, create whole projects, and send them to our contest. And I am glad I can see this, I learn more about my friends and colleagues, about their creative work and thoughts. Den’s photo contest discovers new names. There were several vivid examples, when a photographer was first presented in the nomination ‘World as Seen by Children,’ that is, they were under 18, and then they grew professionally every year until they were awarded the Grand Prix. These processes might go unnoticed by a general audience, but we know these stories from the inside. Therefore, I would not say that we are creating a field for competition. Instead, I would say we are creating a united community. You have seen photographers being happy for each other when they are awarded!”
