“The Warmth of the Earth” is one of the projects selected within the third annual microgrant support program for Ukrainian documentarians, implemented by UAPP. The aim of the program is to support authors who continue to document the experience of a country resisting aggression and to create visual testimonies of events that define the history of contemporary Ukraine. The program is implemented with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine.
Below is the author’s direct speech.
“The Warmth of the Earth” — every time I hear these words, I recall my grandfather walking barefoot in the garden.
This is a series of photographs in which, in a poetic form of imagery, I tell about my grandfather’s way of life, about his caring hands through which life passes the path from seed to finished fruit, about the nature around him, from which he draws strength and a thirst for life, and, of course, about the spirituality and age‑old wisdom that come from my grandfather.
I began photographing these images quite a long time ago, and the series includes many images taken in different years and obtained using different processes. Over these years, much has changed — both in our lives and in Ukraine and in the world. But my grandfather’s way of life has hardly changed, and it is precisely this constancy, which resembles a strong tree that holds on despite all winds, that inspired me to create this series.
All of this comes together into a special small island of calm, into a world that exists by its own laws. So I invite you to look into it and quietly walk through it.
Anton Cherniak — a photographer and cinematographer from Koziatyn (Vinnytsia region), lives in Kyiv. Works primarily in documentary photography, photographing people and environments in real situations. Graduated from I. K. Karpenko‑Karyi Kyiv National University of Theatre, Cinema and Television with a degree in cinematography, bachelor’s program in the workshop of Dmytro Tiazhlov. Considers attentiveness, precise selection of subject matter, and work with context to be key in his work; a turning point was the filming of his diploma project, which ultimately established him in the documentary field Instagram of the author
