News Stories

An invisible profession in the world of the visible. Conversation with Irinka Gromotska and Danil Pavlov

26.6.2024
2
min read

We continue with a series of interviews with professional Ukrainian documentarians.

About photo editing, the role of bill-editors in the media and the voices of Ukrainians in the international field, we talked with Danylo Pavlov and Irinka Gromodska.

Watch the full interview on YouTube:

About photo editing

Danylo Pavlov:

Bild editor is a person who is responsible for the images that will appear in the media. Bild editor and photo editor or photo editor is a person who deals with the entire process of maintaining visual material from conceptualization to publication, including communication with photographers and journalists.

Irinka Gromotska:

Photo editor or photo editor are people who, among other things, are engaged in bill-editing. Text and visual should be a collaboration that complements each other.

About the role of the photo editor in the media

Irinka Gromotska:

The Kyiv Independent is a news media outlet, but this does not mean that we publish only news material. We also have reports, longrads, art reports. Photography is a tool like text, infographics and design. Depending on the purpose of the material, you need to choose one or another configuration of tools. People like to look at people, people empathize with people. The visual component is often what may interest a person to read the text.

Danylo Pavlov:

The photo editor influences the choice of photographers for shooting and thus shapes the face of the media.

Photo: Olga Kovalyova

About the importance of photo stories

Irinka Gromotska:

The photo illustrates, but does not have to be literal.

Danylo Pavlov:

A well-constructed photo story, which consists of literally 12-15 frames, can bring you into such a feeling that you watched a short film.

On the importance of vision and pitches

Danylo Pavlov:

We get the materials, and it is important how they are baked. For example, Katya Moskalyuk, Mykhailo Palinchak, Serhiy Korovaynyi — their pitches are clear and understandable. We see the series and understand how to add it all up.

Irinka Gromotska:

I am interested in seeing photographers who are interested in their material, who can talk about their material themselves, who themselves understand the value of their material, and have their own vision.

There should be a dialogue and comfortable interaction between the photo editor and the photographer. On a bad relationship, nothing worthy and integral can be built.
Danylo Pavlov

About Photo-Documentary

Irinka Gromodska

Our main audience at The Kyiv Independent is a foreign audience. And a certain mission of our media is that Ukrainian photographers, photographers, journalists and journalists, so that their talents are highlighted. In order to be able to highlight the work of our professionals and professionals, they must understand that their work is needed.

Photo: Olga Kovalyova

Danylo Pavlov:

I trust the people I work with, and I hope they trust that their material, in which they have invested so much, I will present as best as I can. I will not just take their material without consulting them regarding the final sample, without talking to them how they would feel best.

It seems to me that only in such an atmosphere can valuable material grow. If photographers and photographers do not feel that they are valued, if they do not feel that their material will be beautifully presented on the site, not among advertisements, not small, if they do not feel that the photo editors themselves and the editorial staff themselves do not understand the value of their work, then what will be the motivation for them to work in the field?

The Voice of Ukrainians in the International Media

Irinka Gromodska:

Do we have a voice? I think we have a voice. What is missing is warm contacts with foreign editors.

It is a question of freedom of choice and determinism. Either we think we can't get into foreign media because of invisible forces, or we do everything we can to win this place.

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, I was studying abroad, and the largest American newspapers came to our library every day. And I just remember that every day there on the main, A1, Ukraine, Ukraine and so on, and so on, with every newspaper pictures of our cities and our people, and in no timeline for some reason I don't see our people.

If the media positions itself as foreign, why is the lion's share of people who tell about the world there from North America or Western Europe? And this is really the remnant of colonialism.

We have great examples where added value to stories adds a deep understanding of context. For example, Oksana Parafeniuk, a Ukrainian photographer, makes excellent materials about Ukraine and represents us qualitatively. Other examples are Brendan Hoffman and Natalie Keisar, who teach Ukrainian and focus on Ukraine, which allows them to make in-depth material. They invest time and resources to understand the region, unlike those who come through the conjuncture. This is a big difference.

Danylo Pavlov:

Every photographer influences reality with his vision and style. You can take a story out of the war in a very noir way, but you can add hope. We influence what comes out, one way or another.

The arrival of foreign photographers is a positive moment. Our photographers do not always see what is interesting to the world. This broadens our horizons and understanding of which projects can be of interest internationally.

This interview was made possible thanks to the support work.ua.

Irinka Gromotska— photo editor of The Kyiv Independent. She earned a master's degree in photojournalism from the Missouri School of Journalism under the Fulbright Program. Previously, Irinka was the curator of the exhibition “Struggle for Dignity”, which highlighted the resilience of Ukrainians, interned at Magnum Foundation, worked with Magnum Photos and was assistant photo editor of the photobook FotoEvidence “Ukraine: War Crime”. Her photographs have been published by publications such as Radio Liberty, Reuters, The New York Times and The Guardian. While working at Kyiv Independent, Irinka actively liaises with photojournalists covering events in Ukraine, paying particular attention to the promotion of long-lasting visual stories.

Danylo Pavlov— photojournalist since 2009, worked in the regional media of Donetsk, and later in the media holding “Segodnya” and the UNIAN agency. He also worked as a commercial photographer for several Ukrainian companies. In photojournalism, it focuses on creating social photo stories and illustrating long-read reports.

In addition to working in traditional media, Danylo also contributed to the online magazine The Ukrainians, and later became responsible for the visual direction of a separate edition of Reporters, which now exists both online and in print.

Danylo continues to photograph and cover the events following the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. He reports from de-occupied territories and military positions, and is currently working on a long-running photo project documenting the impact of war on servicemen and civilians in need of plastic surgery. He also collaborates with the State Emergency Service, for which he was awarded the State Badge of Honor last year.

We continue with a series of interviews with professional Ukrainian documentarians.

About photo editing, the role of bill-editors in the media and the voices of Ukrainians in the international field, we talked with Danylo Pavlov and Irinka Gromodska.

Watch the full interview on YouTube:

About photo editing

Danylo Pavlov:

Bild editor is a person who is responsible for the images that will appear in the media. Bild editor and photo editor or photo editor is a person who deals with the entire process of maintaining visual material from conceptualization to publication, including communication with photographers and journalists.

Irinka Gromotska:

Photo editor or photo editor are people who, among other things, are engaged in bill-editing. Text and visual should be a collaboration that complements each other.

About the role of the photo editor in the media

Irinka Gromotska:

The Kyiv Independent is a news media outlet, but this does not mean that we publish only news material. We also have reports, longrads, art reports. Photography is a tool like text, infographics and design. Depending on the purpose of the material, you need to choose one or another configuration of tools. People like to look at people, people empathize with people. The visual component is often what may interest a person to read the text.

Danylo Pavlov:

The photo editor influences the choice of photographers for shooting and thus shapes the face of the media.

Photo: Olga Kovalyova

About the importance of photo stories

Irinka Gromotska:

The photo illustrates, but does not have to be literal.

Danylo Pavlov:

A well-constructed photo story, which consists of literally 12-15 frames, can bring you into such a feeling that you watched a short film.

On the importance of vision and pitches

Danylo Pavlov:

We get the materials, and it is important how they are baked. For example, Katya Moskalyuk, Mykhailo Palinchak, Serhiy Korovaynyi — their pitches are clear and understandable. We see the series and understand how to add it all up.

Irinka Gromotska:

I am interested in seeing photographers who are interested in their material, who can talk about their material themselves, who themselves understand the value of their material, and have their own vision.

There should be a dialogue and comfortable interaction between the photo editor and the photographer. On a bad relationship, nothing worthy and integral can be built.
Danylo Pavlov

About Photo-Documentary

Irinka Gromodska

Our main audience at The Kyiv Independent is a foreign audience. And a certain mission of our media is that Ukrainian photographers, photographers, journalists and journalists, so that their talents are highlighted. In order to be able to highlight the work of our professionals and professionals, they must understand that their work is needed.

Photo: Olga Kovalyova

Danylo Pavlov:

I trust the people I work with, and I hope they trust that their material, in which they have invested so much, I will present as best as I can. I will not just take their material without consulting them regarding the final sample, without talking to them how they would feel best.

It seems to me that only in such an atmosphere can valuable material grow. If photographers and photographers do not feel that they are valued, if they do not feel that their material will be beautifully presented on the site, not among advertisements, not small, if they do not feel that the photo editors themselves and the editorial staff themselves do not understand the value of their work, then what will be the motivation for them to work in the field?

The Voice of Ukrainians in the International Media

Irinka Gromodska:

Do we have a voice? I think we have a voice. What is missing is warm contacts with foreign editors.

It is a question of freedom of choice and determinism. Either we think we can't get into foreign media because of invisible forces, or we do everything we can to win this place.

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, I was studying abroad, and the largest American newspapers came to our library every day. And I just remember that every day there on the main, A1, Ukraine, Ukraine and so on, and so on, with every newspaper pictures of our cities and our people, and in no timeline for some reason I don't see our people.

If the media positions itself as foreign, why is the lion's share of people who tell about the world there from North America or Western Europe? And this is really the remnant of colonialism.

We have great examples where added value to stories adds a deep understanding of context. For example, Oksana Parafeniuk, a Ukrainian photographer, makes excellent materials about Ukraine and represents us qualitatively. Other examples are Brendan Hoffman and Natalie Keisar, who teach Ukrainian and focus on Ukraine, which allows them to make in-depth material. They invest time and resources to understand the region, unlike those who come through the conjuncture. This is a big difference.

Danylo Pavlov:

Every photographer influences reality with his vision and style. You can take a story out of the war in a very noir way, but you can add hope. We influence what comes out, one way or another.

The arrival of foreign photographers is a positive moment. Our photographers do not always see what is interesting to the world. This broadens our horizons and understanding of which projects can be of interest internationally.

This interview was made possible thanks to the support work.ua.

Irinka Gromotska— photo editor of The Kyiv Independent. She earned a master's degree in photojournalism from the Missouri School of Journalism under the Fulbright Program. Previously, Irinka was the curator of the exhibition “Struggle for Dignity”, which highlighted the resilience of Ukrainians, interned at Magnum Foundation, worked with Magnum Photos and was assistant photo editor of the photobook FotoEvidence “Ukraine: War Crime”. Her photographs have been published by publications such as Radio Liberty, Reuters, The New York Times and The Guardian. While working at Kyiv Independent, Irinka actively liaises with photojournalists covering events in Ukraine, paying particular attention to the promotion of long-lasting visual stories.

Danylo Pavlov— photojournalist since 2009, worked in the regional media of Donetsk, and later in the media holding “Segodnya” and the UNIAN agency. He also worked as a commercial photographer for several Ukrainian companies. In photojournalism, it focuses on creating social photo stories and illustrating long-read reports.

In addition to working in traditional media, Danylo also contributed to the online magazine The Ukrainians, and later became responsible for the visual direction of a separate edition of Reporters, which now exists both online and in print.

Danylo continues to photograph and cover the events following the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. He reports from de-occupied territories and military positions, and is currently working on a long-running photo project documenting the impact of war on servicemen and civilians in need of plastic surgery. He also collaborates with the State Emergency Service, for which he was awarded the State Badge of Honor last year.

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