Eyes of Maidan: Photographs by Alexander Sherbakov

Photographs from Ukraine's Maidan to be Displayed at Toronto's Ashkenaz Festival

While the events in Ukraine this past winter, and developments since, have focused world attention on Ukraine, much of the coverage relates to the broad geopolitical implications, with less attention paid to the individual, personal stories of the individuals involved.

Kyiv-born Israeli photojournalist Alexander (Sasha) Sherbakov spent several months on the Maidan during the revolutionary crisis, turning his lens on the human personal stories of the protesters. The artist produced a series of over 100 diptychs, each consisting of two portraits of a Maidan activist/protester – the eyes in close-up, and a full-length portrait. His goal was to show a representative sample of the Maidan activists, and more importantly, to convey the individual human stories behind the photographs, which may be glimpsed through each protester’s eyes and the accompanying brief caption.

While present for these historic events, Sherbakov made it a point to spend extended periods of time embedded with the various groupings present at Maidan – including those from civil society, the Jewish community, and nationalists (including both Svoboda and the Right Sector).

Sherbakov’s photographs of Maidan were distributed by the Associated Press, and also exhibited at the Andrei Sakharov Museum in Moscow in May.

With his dual patriotic commitment to both Ukraine and Israel, Sherbakov sees himself as an active fighter in the cause of truth and human rights, a fighter whose main weapon is the camera – in his view, a weapon not less, possibly much more powerful than the gun.

Co-presented with Ukrainian Jewish Encounter.