Olena Kosovych

"It's not a vacation" is a series about Ukrainian families (moms with kids) who were forced to leave their homeland because of war. They were very warmly hosted by volunteers in a small resort village in northern Germany. We might think that those who managed to flee to such places are very happy. Resort village, pastoral idyll: fields, picturesque canal, neat houses, horses, forest – everything supposedly beautiful is somewhat discolored, faded, even the landscapes.

“I would like to be here for any reason but not as a refugee.”

It could look like a vacation if it weren't for the heartbreaking questions from the kids, “Mom, when will I see my dad? And when will we come back HOME?”

Beauty is a social construct. It is formed by external information flows: by family, trends, lovers, media, fashion... At the same time, beauty is also the golden ratio, harmony, and balance of proportions. These are the things that have been with us since primordial times.

And when we think about the beauty of the body, we encounter two opposite things: those primary things that have been with us since the beginning of time, and modern things. And the human body is at the center of the conflict. Unlike hair color or dress style, the body is not easy to adjust to external pressure.

So you are looking at yourself in the mirror, and think: what defines me? How can I evaluate myself? And sadly, it's always a zero-sum game — cruel social requirements leave us no other option.

This project is about a person who regains control over her body

In Ukrainian mythology, the souls of drowned women and girls who died without being baptized turn into "mavkas." This soul cannot find peace, even if it was a victim. From the point of view of Christians, such women remained outcasts after death, unable to continue the normal path of a righteous soul. They came back after death to take revenge in the appearance of seductive women. Modern norms make a woman feel guilty if she does not meet the "canons of beauty." She becomes an outcast when she refuses to accept the torture of diets and "beauty procedures." Any “body” that does not fit into our strict standards becomes an outsider. With this story, I draw parallels to how in our mythology, mavkas, as women who have survived traumatic experiences, return and gain strength. But this power is given to them at the cost of their own lives and can only be used for revenge.

Fortunately, today, women do not have to die to regain ownership of their lives. I'm talking about a modern woman who rethinks her body, owns it, and frees herself from feelings of guilt. The body is something that belongs only to her, and does not have to conform to the canons of beauty and social norms.

"How not to lose yourself in today's complex world?"

This project explores human inner contradictions and reflections on how not to lose yourself. I started shooting it in 2021, during the Covid pandemic. This crisis has become a challenge for many.

I photographed my friends — some were suffering from insomnia and painful search for the meaning of life, some were going through a deep crisis in relationships, some were suffering from depression and almost ended up on the street. In crisis states we are completely absorbed by thoughts, anxieties, contradictions and even the space in which we are.

I used multi-exposure to show how difficult it is sometimes to separate a person from their experiences and define their own "self."