ESCAPE
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AUTHOR
Maryna Shtanko
Maryna Shtanko is a visual artist and photographer
from Kharkiv, Ukraine (b.1992).
Her work spans from documentary to fine art and shows her interest in working with analog photography, experimenting with text and painting techniques.
About Escape series Maryna says:
“A few years ago my parents bought a house in a small village in Ukraine. According to Wikipedia, it had a population of 47 people in 2001. I used to visit my parents once in a while and stay there over a weekend. It's a beautiful place but somehow I always felt as if I didn't belong there.
Being used to city life and urban surroundings, I didn't feel comfortable while staying "in the middle of nowhere". In the whole village, there are a couple of houses located close to a pine forest. There are no schools and no grocery stores. However, this year everything's changed. Because of the lockdown, my two close friends and I spent several weeks at my parents' house. During the pandemic times, it appeared to be a perfect place to stay and thus escape reality. It felt almost surreal not to put on a mask every time you go outside. I wanted to capture this time and see how such an ordinary life can be so unusual at the same time. And how the addiction to the realities of the modern world can change a person's attitude towards nature and solitude”.