In 5 episodes of 10 minutes, this series plunges into the history of a Ukraine far from clichés, through the lens of the Kharkiv School of Photography and its artistic and political impact. From the USSR of the 60s to the present-day war, this is the chronicle of a little-known, rebellious and provocative Ukraine, through the embodied stories of its artists, their personal archives and their carefully crafted photographs.

EPISODE 1 : The Shock Doctrine 1967–1980 (10’50’’)

In the Soviet Ukraine of the 60s, KGB surveillance and Soviet propaganda plunge the population into torpor and paranoia. A group of rebel photographers formed in Kharkiv, creating provocative images at the risk of being spotted by the censors.

EPISODE 2 : The Hidden Side of Perestroika 1985–1991 (10’58’’)

Buoyed by the hope of perestroika and Gorbachev's reforms of modernization and transparency, Kharkiv's photographers give new meaning to documentary photography, irony and self-mockery, documenting the last hours of the USSR.

EPISODE 3 : The Dizziness of Independence 1991–2000 (10’25’’)

In 1991, the collapse of the USSR and the independence of Ukraine raised high hopes, but also a total loss of bearings. In Kharkiv, a new generation of photographers is taking a sharp look at the new era that is beginning in the country.

EPISODE 4 : One Decade, Two Revolutions 2004–2014 (9’59’’)

Between direct action and provocative photography, the new generation of photographers is denouncing corruption and the post-Soviet mentality, taking part in Ukraine's democratic transition. But just a few kilometers from Kharkiv, war is already raging in the Donbass.

EPISODE 5 : At the Heart of the War 2022–present (10’32’’)

While Kharkiv is under the Russian army's bombs, how can we continue to create? Faced with the tragedy of war, the photographers of the three generations of the Kharkiv School are torn between the need to flee and the need to document the war and its consequences.