Oleksandr Rupeta works in Ukraine and around the world, specializing in topics of social anthropology, social conflicts and personal stories. His focus is on people and communities, spaces and moments that shape our time. Oleksandr Rupeta spoke about author's projects, ethics in photography and international experience as a documentary photographer.
Oleksandr is a member of the International Federation of Journalists, the Federation of European Photographers and the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine. His work has been published by The New York Times, Financial Times, The Times, The Guardian, The Economist, Time, Nature, Forbes, National Geographic Traveler, as well as profile media Bird In Flight, C41 magazine, FotoRoom, Dodho Magazine, The Heavy Collective and many others.
Inspiration and Photographers
“I started photography very early. When I was ten years old, my uncle left the laboratory and I showed footage from my film camera there,” recalls Oleksandr Rupeta. The reference point in professional photography is the work for the Ukrainian edition of the magazine National Geographic. “I just came to them for an interview with my photos from different trips,” says Alexander. “At that time I was interested in religions and offered them a photo project about Sufis - the mystical current of Islam.” Together with the journalist Rupeta, he traveled to the Crimea, northern Cyprus and to Turkey. Alexander managed to gain access to very closed communities, and individual rituals were not even allowed to be photographed. The final part of the project was to be shooting in the Crimea, where Rupeta planned to shoot the keeper of the ancient Sufi center. However, soon there was a Revolution of Dignity, the annexation of Crimea, and the Ukrainian version of National Geographic was closed. “The story is still unfinished, but I gained a very interesting experience. I think it was he who motivated me not just to travel, but to travel as a journalist,” Oleksandr Rupeta shares.
In 2014, Alexander Rupeta issued a press card and together with a familiar journalist traveled to the countries of the Middle East, Afghanistan and Iran. Almost every year the photographer was looking for new ideas for travel and shooting - there were countries in Africa and Asia, India, where Alexander spent about a month. At the end of 2017, he decided to make documentary projects. “I always had the idea that I needed to do something more interesting than what I'm doing now. At first I did not feel this strength, but at the end of 2017 I realized that he was ripe for his own long-term projects,” recalls the photographer.
Alexander Rupeta says that he perceives photography through art. Both of his parents are artists by education, and he was always in the artistic environment — in workshops, on plenary halls and creative parties. “I met many people not without art education, but not from this field at all, but they chose the same photos as me,” says Oleksandr Rupeta. - There is no correlation between education or age. I know a lot of very young photographers who shoot very daringly and coolly.” One of Alexander Rupeta's favorite photographers, who became for him an example of reportage photography and documentary photography, is Ed Kashi. He was particularly impressed by Ed Kasha's report from Crimea, filmed for National Geographic. “Working with light irony, interesting and important topics were raised, I liked how Kashi works with fixers,” says Rupeta. “Ed Kashi became my mentor in one project and we talked about this project in Crimea. It still seems to me that this is the best thing Ed Kashi has done in his life. Regardless of the fact that it is in Ukraine and that it was interesting to me.”
The list of works that impressed Alexander Rupet also includes the book of the English artist Jim Sousen. “He once met an artist in the forest who made a small pool there, which he painted. The artist died and Jam went to this place for many years and photographed how the artist's trench slowly decays and nature takes its course, - says Rupeta. - A meditative series filmed over ten years. She is visually very beautiful, and each frame is cool in itself. I have never encountered work like this before. For me it was the first photo book with my own concept and very well made.”
Alexander Rupetti likes the aesthetics of Jeff Wall's photographs. He artificially reproduces shots that he once liked. “I was once very struck by Kurt Vonnegut's book Timequake, when humanity pushed back years and they relived what they had already done. Actually in Jeff's photos there is the idea of recreating some things that he liked. For example, there is a photo of workers standing in line. Jeff hired these workers and they posed for him in the same queue for several weeks,” says Alexander Rupeta.
To the list of photographers listed above, Rupet adds the name Susan Lipper. The artist began with standard documentary photography, worked on a book about the closed American community of people. Then she began shooting landscapes, which she calls “subjective documentaries.” “If they are landscapes, they are intelligent landscapes. Sometimes it's not clear what she liked there, but the series looks great,” says Rupeta.
Oleksandr Rupeta says that he likes many contemporary Ukrainian photographers. “I can call Boris Mikhailov — for me he is like Dovzhenko in cinema,” says the photographer.
Travel and projects
Now Alexander Rupeta documents the war, films Donetsk region. “Now I've changed my approach to photography a little bit. Not sure I very consciously did it. Just over time, I began to let go, not to press on any topics. Sometimes it is necessary to look more relaxed at the situation and look at the place that comes out of it. I try to shoot on the vibe that is happening around,” explains the photographer.
“The series that shot the most was about exotic animals. I won several competitions with her, there were several exhibitions, and they began to pay attention to me, order shooting, - says Oleksandr Rupeta. “Of course, you can tell something about each project, but this one was the first that came to people.”
Alexander Rupeta recalls the project on bunkers in Albania “Temples of the Atheist State”, which he worked on for a week. “The project was made very intuitive, I was interested in everything. I really liked working slowly so that there was an idea, a location and a lot of time,” explains the photographer. “It's comfortable when you can spend as much time as you want on location and then choose one photo. To travel further, to look for something — this project set the vector of how I want to work.” Alexander adds that the Albanian bunker project taught him to treat topics more freely. Initially, he had the idea to photograph people living in the neighborhood, against the background of bunkers. However, the landscapes turned out to be surreal in themselves and he decided to shoot the project according to sensations, not according to the plan.
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Oleksandr Rupeta has a musical education and he compares composing photos into a series with music. “When you write a piece of music and there is only one climax, it will be quite boring — there must be dynamics in the work. There should be climaxes and pauses, but everyone should be level. Even if you pause, it should be of high quality and in its place. You can learn this all your life,” concludes Oleksandr Rupeta.
Alexander Rupeta is not taking the news right now due to ethical considerations. “I didn't like that I couldn't control the process — how photos are used after shooting, that I can't make signatures for them, what other articles are then illustrated with them,” says Alexander Rupeta. “I'm not comfortable when you don't understand the situation, but just run and grab the emotion, even when the person being photographed does this does not want to.” Alexander Rupeta says that even in the most difficult and terrible filming, it is important for him to find a ray of hope. “This war must be shown. If I personally am not comfortable shooting something, this does not mean that it does not need to be done. On the contrary, it is necessary to shoot the news,” says the photographer.
Alexander usually does not write large texts for his projects. “I am against unnecessary information, I am for the minimum necessary. It seems to me that it is necessary to let go a little and be in an internal dialogue with the viewer, to give him space for interpretation. If you tell everything and show everything, then it will be boring for both you and the viewer, - the photographer explains. “Much more important are the serious questions posed by the series of photos, and not the author's ill-conceived conclusions. A series with the right questions will work best.”
Alexander Rupeta gives his photographs time to “lie down”. Then you have the opportunity to look at your photos as someone else's and try again to make a series or project out of them. “It is worth shooting much wider than you originally planned. Over time, the attitude to the problem may change, and then you will be able to choose other photos,” says the photographer.
When Alexander Rupeta works with a journalist, it relieves many organizational problems. Instead, when he works alone, he tries to completely control the entire process. However, in the conditions of war it is quite difficult to do — you have to look for contacts and acquaintances in order to remove certain topics. “I like working with people who understand what I do and what I do for,” says Oleksandr Rupeta.
Photography and War
With the beginning of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, a lot of foreign photographers came to Ukraine.
“I am for multiculturalism. Foreign photographers in Ukraine create healthy competition. Do not bet on the fact that a Ukrainian photographer should have any preferences because of this. You just have to shoot better than them.”
Oleksandr Rupeta now shoots in medium format “Fuji” and mainly with a single lens with a fixed focal length of 50 mm. “When I started, I shot on a 17—35 mm lens. Then I realized that this dynamic looks artificial. Instead of looking for movement in the frame, you try to fix it with a wide angle. When you look at the photos, you realize that you could just add a brain, not a wide angle,” smiles Alexander Rupeta. - In Africa, I forced myself to shoot on 50 mm. I suffered until I learned to work with it. After all, under each focal length you can find yourself an interesting topic. For example, there is photographer Christopher Andersen, who telephoto people at intersections.” Alexander Rupeta compares flash work with makeup - if there is too much of it, it looks too much. However, it all depends on the idea and theme of the photo project.
Photo by Alexander Rupeta
“I shoot a lot. However, at the final stage, I can choose photos very quickly. I look at the little icons and, when there is some energy from this photo, I add to the series. From several thousand photos, you can choose ten or twenty in a few minutes. But then the problems begin — to select the photos so that they fit each other”, - shares Oleksandr Rupeta.
“It's cool to have someone around who will support, who will be able to look at the photos and advise something,” says Alexander. “I like the feeling when there is an idea of the next shoot or series of photos in general. When there is an inner sense of drive that you are doing something right. Work inspires work.”
Contributors:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Katya Moskalyuk
Picture editor: Olga Kovalyova
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar
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