OLENA SHVED
City Patchwork

I am lucky to be born and live in Kyiv - one of the oldest cities in the world, which is famous for its unique architecture, including world cultural heritage sites - Kyiv Pechersk Lavra and Saint Sophia Cathedral. But, today Kiev is a metropolis with sleeping areas in the form of "concrete jungle", built up at different times, often in chaotic and hastily way in order to satisfy the growing housing needs.The modern architectural style of the city still reflects the principles of the Soviet era, when human comfort was not a value, and the aesthetics of architecture itself was a monotonous typical project. The attempts to stand out in any way was severely pursued by the state system.Today, the inhabitants of post-Soviet houses themselves are faced with the problems of improvement and, above all, insulation of their homes. This process is not regulated by anyone and is not performed systematically, as it could be in correct way to be cost-effective and aesthetically harmonious. Therefore, the sleeping areas of the city have a motley look of a crazy quilt (like in the art of patchwork), as if they made of scraps, sewn together and painted in fancy colors.

Author
For the last 20 years my main field of activity was medicine. Nearly 3 years ago I became interested in photography. I studied at Kyiv School of Photography, Chekachkov Photo Academy, School of conceptual and Art Photography Myph. Years of work in surgical clinics pushed me to create a series «Behind the Red Line».
- Silver Prize in Paris Photo Prize 2020
- Honorable Mention in International Photography Awards 2020
- Honorable Mention in Neutral Density Photography Awards 2020

Website
https://www.instagram.com/shved_artphoto/

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