Growing up in the streets of eastern Ukraine was special to me: Since most of Ukrainians seemed to be part of some hooligan scene, being a skateboarder meant being their enemy to them, the hooligans show up at the skate spot and you either start running or you’re gonna get beat up. No feelings of freedom to move but the need to run, the streets told us lessons.
In the area I lived, “607”, options were limited: either you’re a pensioner who’s sitting on a bench or you’re a youngster who was already thinking how to grab some beers or go get some cheap drugs from the pharmacy. That was not what I wanted from life. Since skateboarding is a pool of creative input with all its videos, the editing, choice of music and mainly spending your life on the streets, there’s no doubt that it will shape your view on life as a whole. I started capturing impressions of my daily life with my smartphone camera until I moved to Germany, that’s where I got my first camera by my granddad. Getting the camera and bonding with the skate scene in the Ruhr area in western Germany was a big motivation for me to start photography.
It was a natural path, skateboarding leads to spending time in urban environments, not knowing what will happen next leads to surreal situations, capturing that with my camera just came natural: street life with its crazy people all around. Another big influence is my Ukrainian and jewish background so I started capturing life at my grandparents homewehere I ve been living the past 9 years before finally moving to Berlin, a lot as well. So my photography is about generating a feeling of belonging while capturing coming of age on the streets of Europe.
Mostly I am cruising with my board through the streets hoping to find some shots, that’s amazing, it makes me feel free.
Growing up in the streets of eastern Ukraine was special to me: Since most of Ukrainians seemed to be part of some hooligan scene, being a skateboarder meant being their enemy to them, the hooligans show up at the skate spot and you either start running or you’re gonna get beat up. No feelings of freedom to move but the need to run, the streets told us lessons.
In the area I lived, “607”, options were limited: either you’re a pensioner who’s sitting on a bench or you’re a youngster who was already thinking how to grab some beers or go get some cheap drugs from the pharmacy. That was not what I wanted from life. Since skateboarding is a pool of creative input with all its videos, the editing, choice of music and mainly spending your life on the streets, there’s no doubt that it will shape your view on life as a whole. I started capturing impressions of my daily life with my smartphone camera until I moved to Germany, that’s where I got my first camera by my granddad. Getting the camera and bonding with the skate scene in the Ruhr area in western Germany was a big motivation for me to start photography.
It was a natural path, skateboarding leads to spending time in urban environments, not knowing what will happen next leads to surreal situations, capturing that with my camera just came natural: street life with its crazy people all around. Another big influence is my Ukrainian and jewish background so I started capturing life at my grandparents homewehere I ve been living the past 9 years before finally moving to Berlin, a lot as well. So my photography is about generating a feeling of belonging while capturing coming of age on the streets of Europe.
Mostly I am cruising with my board through the streets hoping to find some shots, that’s amazing, it makes me feel free.