City21
“City 21” is the result of eight years’ work. This experimental series explores the meaning of “city” in the 21st century. Possibly critical dystopian material, the pictures show that the city that evolved is not the same as what was once envisioned. The photographs capture ephemeral scenes incorporating elements that seem ordinary but that are used ironically. For example, the pictures include an advertising kiosk, an empty white billboard, and other typical urban artifacts. Although the unusual focus on such subjects creates a visually chaotic space, I want to reveal some kind of new harmony. The concept is similar to the use of objects as diorama collections for museum expositions. Photographs from this project uncover the character of the city through its details. What is most important is not the transient state but creating an atmosphere of fundamental feelings of the space. The photography is not only recording certain subjects but also transforming the subjects in a defining moment of their existence. My aim is to find the thin edge between these images of the city and ordinary pictures of the city that borders between reality and dreams. In this series of photographs, I explore the iconic but banal story of the city through the prism of an aesthetic narrative.
Dimitrii Bogachuk is a Ukrainian photographer who works with universal memories that belong to everyone and no one.