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<p style=”font-size: 14px; line-height: 1px; font-weight: normal;”>Yulia Serdyukova</p>
<p style=”font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif; font-size: 24px; font-style: italic; line-height: 24px; font-weight: normal; padding-top: 3px;”>Cosmos</p>
Gagarin’s flight to outer space in 1961 marked the beginning of the “space boom” in the USSR. Epic drive to the space validated and glorified the Soviet system and propelled cosmonauts to the status of national heroes of mythical statue. The collapse of the Soviet Union put an end to the cosmic epos of communist ideology. Its debris can now be found scattered around the former USSR.
Peaceful Space Exploration Museum was created in 1979 as a part of “Pereyaslav” National Reserve 120 km from Kiev, Ukraine. The museum is located in a wooden church, circa 1833. Placement of the museum allowed the founder of the reserve Mikhail Sikorsky to save the church from the destruction by the Soviet authorities.
Galya and Natasha, the museum custodians, call it simply – “Cosmos”. They open the doors on request from the visitors: “Are you going to “Cosmos”? Wait a minute, I’ll open it for you”.
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i enjoyed the music and soundbytes.
the pictures felt like they were shot in about two hours, and didn’t really hold my attention much. a lot of repetition – making a compelling 4.30min photo essay out of a visit to a tiny museum would be a challenge for any photographer i think.
i shouldn’t, but i just can’t help comparing this to Adam Bartos’ wonderful book “Kosmos” – a comprehensive look at Russia’s decrepit space industry. there are some photos here:
http://www.adambartos.com/kosmos.html
book here:
http://www.papress.com/bookpage.tpl?cart=1238962069443315&isbn=9781568983080
You have shown the essence of feelings that have surrounded all about cosmos. The way it was felt at the time – how cosmonauts were sanctified. It’s all long gone and it feels in your story. The music and the recordings from the time – it all makes me have a deep journey into my childhood where Gagarin, Korolev, Leonov, Grechko, to name a few that made household names and characters to assume when playing cosmonaunts. I recall Vremya announcing the flight, I remember the second channel showing the take off. I remember the return of those poor guys into the steppes of Kazakhstan all happily depleted after the record stay. Your story shows the artifacts of those times – something I and possibly a lot of others have not seen.
Congratulations !!!
Передай мои поздравления Феликсу – иллюминатору :).
I am off to check the rest of your photos …
cheers all …
that was a lot to take in.. interesting story.
i liked the contextual photos .. and the stop-frame sequences.
it felt like i was visiting the center for myself.. the museam itself looks like a rare find and a gold mine for little boys.
the words.. dialogue.. span too fast.. i felt conflict between reading and image viewing although i like the idea.. some photos i missed and some text i missed
and the music.. suited the piece really well.. all together it was pretty hectic.. will have to look again a couple of times.. actually turned off the music on first viewing to concerntrate on the photos and words.
i really enjyed the photography on it’s own and guess the next couple of views will be more to soak into the sound and catch more of the dialogue.. no bigge for me as i enjoyed the photos and guess that all good work deserves a couple of views in any case.
congratulations yulia – aside from the busy feel of the piece, it’s really well put together.. smooth photographically.
david.
Yulia, thank you so much for this multimedia presentaion. I thoroughly enjoyed it although it is a very sad piece. Cosmonauts in minor.
The melancholic mood of the place is well captured. And it was nice to hear the voice of Gagarin. It is so sad to see the objects that once were state of the art gear to be nearly forgotten in a church. Juri Gagarin achievement to be the first man in space marked a special moment for mankind, but as it seems nobody takes much intrest in it anymore.
Yulia, are there other museum in Russia that show the gear and spacecrafts from the cosmonauts?
Is Mikhail Sikorsky THE helicopter guy?
Best
Reimar
!!
Очень, очень красивая история. Очень красивые фотографии. По правде говоря, это сказки. Часть книги Виктора Пелевина ( “Оман Ра”) части Пушкина рассказ для детей. Что мне нравится в этой истории является то, что вы рассказали целую историю в небольшой, синий космос этой деревянной церкви. Синий, цвет времени и русских церквей, звезды и небо, вся твердь. Существует так много глубоких и печальных историй о полете Гагарина. Его слава и его потерю, его печаль, и его численность. Как Icarus, Гагарина жизни оказало глубокое затмение после внеочередных путешествие в космос.
Все ваши фотографии красивых и мне нравится, как вы баланса и перемещения между абстракцией и эмоций, между традиционной документальной глаз / разработки и живописные поэмы. Даже если я ничего не знала о России или о космической программе, даже если бы Россия не была большой частью моей жизни (что это), я бы загипнотизированы этой истории. Ирония заключается в том, что столь многие фотографы пытаются решить истории и крупные темы, охватывающие война или смерть или политика, или уничтожения. Как и Толстого, они стараются писать свою историю на большом полотне свои фотографии. Вы добились противоположного. Подобно Гоголю, как Булгаков. Вы сказали нам простую историю небольшой, тихий и деревянная церковь внутри церкви это история народа, надежды и мечты, страхи и разочарования.
Каждый аспект этой работы, я люблю. Я люблю использовать открытию голоса и звука, а также музыки. Мне нравится, что, как в сказке (Гоголя Сочельник, или Вы), вы с нами через лес только обнаружить призраков. На фотографии это красиво, но это потому, что вы показали нам весь мир в упорном рамках одном месте, что вы преуспеть. Для меня красивый, мужественный и глубоко интеллектуальные история.
Многие люди здесь не может понять силу этого эссе (из-за ваше решение оставаться в этой церкви и фотографии практически все), но для меня она поет все вещи, о истории. Сделайте простое слово, простой, и она громко петь до тех пор, пока слово растет глухих. Я покажу моя жена Марина, а также внеочередное фотограф из Москвы, это сегодня вечером. Может быть, мы должны выполнить один день в России.
Спасибо за отправку этого звездный бюст песня
:)))
bob black
can someone moderate my first comment please?
The introductory images had the strongest effect on me; they really gave me a sense of the location and I really wanted to see more of them!
The other images worked well as a travel type of story, they were very well done. But for me it was the intro that worked the best.
this essay is a little gem, like the church-museum it describes.
there are a lot of good shots, also taking into account the limitations (in terms of photographic situations, physical space, number of objects/persons involved) the author choose to manage.
the multimedia presentation is great, with a sort of nostalgic happiness, even if I too found difficult to follow images and translations simultaneously: a couple of views are needed (and worthy for sure!)
Nice. I’ve already taken my own two year old child to the local planetarium, he’s already into planets and rockets of all kinds!
Whatever my opinion may be worth, I would have reduced to fewer frames. Probably I would not have closed it. If you leave it open in it’s structure you encourage the viewer to seek more in the future, to search for that distant place. By showing your leave from the place it becomes more similar to a dream.
But maybe that’s exactly what you meant.
Whatever! Good work!
I totally agree with Bob above..
and also Haik’s first sentence…
:)))))))
Love it! One stupid quibble. I need to hear Sputnik 1 in the sound track. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/features/sounds/sputnk1b.wav
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Reminds me of Luc Delahaye’s Wineterreise – not for the essay’s content, but for the colour palette that only such northern climes allow. This is a wonderful example of how people demonstrate against a regime that allows no demonstration. You need somewhere to put a museum of Soviet space endeavour? No problem comrade; we have this old church that will finally find a proper use: saves you knocking it down!
Yulia; thank you for sharing. Quite surreal to see science and religion co-exist.
Best wishes,
Mike.
one of my earlist memories is seeing sputnik in the night sky… ck out the work of bee flowers!
i totally agree with Panos when he totally agrees with Bob above and also Haik’s first sentence… :P
i really enjoyed it…a movie experience, keeping the background conversation (with subtitles) is something i find very interesting.
Bodo….
:))))))))))))))
Panos…
It is amazing how our great knowledge of Russian comes in aid at times like these to understand and appreciate the great discussion above…and I feel sad for those poor souls who do not have the knowledge like ours :P
Great stuff!
It’s remind me Lem’s books.
Very poetic essay.
Very inteligent. Balanced.
Great place.
I love russia.
I’ve never been there, but I should.
When I look at this essay and I remind amerycan’s version conquest of space I see a big title:
TOLSTOJ VS. MICKEY MOUSE
two different…
two beautiful cultures.
uncompareable.
equal.
and here third beautiful culture:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ensYn5bOPM0
peace for uniwerse.
I like how the essay followed one woman’s journey to and through the museum…it felt very movie-like. I agree that the text ran a bit too fast, but I liked it’s presence. The music was perfect, and I loved the upward geometry of angles presented in this piece. Very blue in color suited the mood…although there seemed to be hopefulness through the remembrance that occurs. Very nice use of color, however.
Marcin…
Did you just call my culture…
Mickey Mouse …??????????????????????????????????????????……..
Big laugh to northern Korean missile launch today….
poor missile… barely made it to japan…
hey , good luck next time…
:(
Panos
What wrong is with Mickey Mouse?
I love mickey mouse.
I am pop culture fan.
I love Japan culture for samurais 50% and pop-manga-toys-murakami 50%.
besides US culture is like Mickey Mouse.
And russians like Toltoy’s books.
Everybody knows that.
and polish like…. who knows? … like Jan Pawel II???
About korean
I have not tv. I don’t know what is happening on the world now.
Should I afraid?
peace for pop culture.
Marcin…:)
i love the samurai culture too…
After all…Samurai are responsible for our RAP music… as we know it today…
and no… u shouldnt be afraid regarding the n.Korean regime…
they are targeting L.A… not Poland..:)
great photos..
lots of geometry..
as a multi media piece~
it felt
a bit ‘disjointed’
the music was great
and moved the story along for me…
but I don’t think I get what the story is..
or I feel like
I’m missing something..
tangled
up
in
blue..
**
I didn’t have an issue with the combination of music, text and image. The sounds from the tape were really great to listen to, it was a little bit of history right there. I enjoyed this little story about a museum in a church, I’m a sucker for bits of the past coming back into the present, especially from Russia because most of us from the West don’t know much about that era.
Thank you.
I fully agree with Jonathan …
It has a very nice rhythm to it … It all fits well. Merely the last piece of interview at the very very end kind of ripped me out of a transe-like state of mind. If that was not intentional – as it might as well have been … we are not dreaming after all, but in a harsh reality … then I would suggest trying to edit the sound of the interview a little. Maybe it is possible – if desired – to blend it in a little further …
Just my 2 cents.
And … a trully magnificent starting photograph … !!!
The whole aura, the timing … all seems to reflect the place. Makes me want to visit the country really badly …
Thank you.
Wendy …
I can only guess by your words that you got the story after all …
Cheers,
L
I loved this piece because of the hammerlike subtley of your presentation. the cool colors, the isolation, the politics, the voices, the music. for me they were like a magic carpet ride. lifted above. apart from reality, but seeing it is real. not like a rocket where you are jolted away, but gently lifted so you can still touch what is past. the two many pictures. don’t care. they show me how important those images are to you. thank you.
anne henning
LASSAL~
I guess what got me confused
is in the beginning there is audio from the
space trip,
yet we are seeing landscape images…
It would make more sense to me,
if this audio is going to open the story,
to start with the images of the interior of the museum,
the suits etc….
or is the story about a day in the life of the woman that works there?
It seemed to be that at the end,
but didn’t begin with that…..
visually,
I ‘get the story’
but with the audio clips,
I was confused…
**
I found the piece to be profound and bittersweet. Evocative and surprising, with new layers revealed as if opening a Russian nesting doll. To think of the effort that went into the drive to explore space first and all that was at stake during the Cold War, and now this. An emblem of the Soviet space program sealed in a ramshackle church with a stick jammed under the door knob to keep it shut. Was it really all worth it?
yes, like a little movie..and I enjoyed the transitions of mood and intent in the different ‘acts’. gorgeous color palate, and you have shown well how you can make something of interest out of something that is a relatively staid subject..
Hey Yulia,
I loved what you achieved with this photo essay. It has pathos, and nostalgia. There is a wonderful mixture of sadness, and stubborn pride, and I feel there is a message of hope aswell.
I agree with some of the comments about the subtitles, but all you need to do, in my humble opinion is to change the timing and position of the text, let it stand longer on some slides for example, and you have the perfect photo essay.
The choice of music was also fitting.
Well done, Yulia!!
Regards
Andrew
after the long last 2 days, i realized that my comment, in russian, probably looks really pompous, so, to offer additional support for this BEAUTIFUL essay, i’ll translate what I wrote above…
GREAT WORK YULIA: :)))
ALL THE BEST
RUNNING
bob
my comment:
Very, very beautiful story. Very beautiful photos. In truth, this is a fairy tale. It’s part Victor Pelevin book (Oman Ra) and part Puskhin fairy tale. What I like about this story is that you tell the whole story within the ‘cosmos’ of the small space of the blue wooden church. Blue, the color of the time and Russian churches, the stars and the sky, the whole disappearing firment from the breath of our memories. There are so many profound and sad stories of the flight of Gagarin. His fame and his loss, his grief, and his strength. Like Icarus, Gagarina life had a profound eclipse after extraordinary journey into space.
All your photos are beautiful and I like how you balance and move between abstraction and emotion, between traditional documentary eye / scenic design and poem. Even if I did not know anything about Russia or about the space program, even if Russia had not been a big part of my life (it is), I would be mesmerized by this story. The irony is that so many photographers try to resolve history and major themes, including war or death or politics, or destruction, over the expanse of ‘heroic’ pictures or places or scenes. and yet, in this small blue church, and within the framework of this simple, poetic story, lay much of what we regard as the (again Gogol’s words) the tears and laughter of history. Many photographers, as if Tolstoy, they try to write their story on a large canvas of my photos. You have achieved the opposite. and it is a wonderful accomplishment. Like Gogol, like Bulgakov. You told us a simple story a small, quiet and a wooden church inside the church is a history of people, their hopes and dreams, fears and frustrations.
Every aspect of this work, I love. I like to use the opening voice and sound, and music. I like that, like in a fairy tale (Gogol’s Christmas Eve, or Viy), you are with us through the forest only to find ghosts. The picture is beautiful, but it’s because you have shown us the world as a stubborn part of one place that you will succeed. To me, beautiful, courageous and deeply intellectual history.
Many people not familiar with the legacy of these churches or the life of Gagarin, may not immediately understand the force of the essay (due to your decision to remain in the church, and photos of almost everything), but for me ite sings all the things about history. In fact, you’ve offered each of us a visual and narrative trip, a history lesson of stors, through the incarnation of place and time. You’ve Taken a name, a word, a color, a place, and sewed it together, like that draping baloon of red. until the word is growing deaf. I will show my wife Marina, as well as an extraordinary photographer from Moscow, so this evening. Maybe we need to perform one day in Russia.
Thank you for sharing this star-burst quiet song…
It’s been a beautiful journey…and in a way I felt like a child again…
wonderful work!
bob black
Thank u bob for translation..
In the beginning I thought it was
The Borat National Anthem..
You were not pompous..
… Haik was definitely pompous though..
That’s for sure..:))))
You have found an extraordinary subject and your essay, in spite of small default of timing, is strong, evocative, moving,… In your story, this museum, lost in the ukrainian land, appears like a sanctuary of ideologies that pretended to bring us a better life : communism, religion and science.
There is some irony to see that some remaining symbols of one of the greatest prides of the soviet period is now stored in a church
I totally agree with bodo when he totally agrees with Panos who totally agrees with Bob above and Haik’s first sentence. Whew!
Had to be done! ;^}
Michael K..
I totally agree with u2..
:))))
I was surpised at how deeply touched I was by this essay. With the audio of Gargarin’s voice in the space capsule and the two pieces of music, this series of photos took me not only into this quaint museum but back in time. I well remember the American response to his flight into Outer Space, colored as it was by the paranoia of the Cold War. Yulia’s essay brought it all to mind. What a strange time that was in my country’s history! Now I can look at the Soviet space explorations with a clear eye and appreciate the vision that prompted it.
Thank you, Yulia, for offering me this opportunity to revisit my former life experience and bring it up to date. In my eyes, Cosmos is a jewel of a presentation.
Patricia
WENDY
I see what you mean … Strangely what I understand bothers you is what makes it more powerful for me. Hmmm… I have no explanation for that.
I guess I feel the contrast/vakuum between what I see and what I hear at the beginning, like an urgent question that needs answer and then the answer drips in, if you stay at it. Bearing in mind that I have seen the cover image and know the title I do have a certain expectation and am curious as to how the story will develop.
I am not sure how obvious it is for Yulia’s countrymen, but for me the beginning was not very obvious, as apparently it was not very obvious for you either. Yessss … but it was a well done kind of “not being obvious” … At least I drive by the fuel that is ignited by something like this. Makes me positively excited. This specific one made me sad too … There is so much human emotions in it. General human emotions … very condensed at this specific place … The past, the present, a church (hope) … the “future”to be … Cosmos … The future as is … and … acceptance … Quiteness… The human time colliding with some other kind of time … There are these places where these layers overlap like leaves that the wind gathers in certain corners of buildings … They make me shiver … This essay makes me shiver … In a good way.
… as I mentioned above … I would only edit the sound a little, so the different pieces mellow in a bit more at the end. But that is my personal oppinion, of course. Maybe I would also look over the photographs of the interior, it might be that the whole would strengthen with fewer of them. Well, yes, it is just a small space inside the building and so the objects are shown over and over. I would just keep the very strongest ones. If I was not falling asleep right at my desk, I would have another look and make some suggestions. But … I think Yulia has a good eye and … I am sure she feels which ones she could take out. Gosh, I cannot tell why I think she does … but I do think she does… maybe just so I do not feel guilty going to bed now …
Good night everybody. Keep safe.
Dear everybody,
Thank you all very much for your generous feedback!
It was a great pleasure to see that this piece haven’t left you indifferent. The most wonderful thing about all these is the vivid proof of possibility to share feelings through photography. I see that most of you while watching the essay felt exactly the same I felt while working with it. It’s amazing.
And some short personal comments:
BEN ROBERTS, thanks for the link to Adam Bartos’ work. I haven’t seen it before.
BB(HOMER), thanks for so touching text in Russian – it’s twice great because of the way you use the language :-)
REIMAR OFF, it’s Igor (not Mikhail) Sikorsky who’s THE helicopter guy.
HAIK, откуда ты знаешь, что Феликс – “иллюминатор”? :-)))
Stupid Photographer, thanks for the idea with the Sputnik sound. I guess I’ll use it when remake the multimedia.
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST,
It’s UKRAINE, not Russia, and it is two different countries ;-)
My best wishes to everybody.
I really enjoyed the audio component to this piece. i found the switch of music and the conceptual switches in photography intriguing. The start of the essay was strong but you lost me a bit with the (museum?) still life photographs. some were repetitive and not very strong images. again, the beginning was creative in its mix of audio and visual but the middle of the piece needed stronger images.
LASSAL
thanks for your response…
and for your reference to the essay..
I hesitated before writing my comment,
as I was ready for people to
‘attack’ my observation..
thank you,
for your thoughtful explanation…
gentle
and
intelligent…
just as it should be:)
**
It’s Ukraine??
ha ha ha ha ha
my mistake,
I didn’t read text (I never (almost) (if I don’t have to) do it) and I turn off the sound.
Why I thought it was russia????
nevermind,
great place,
great essay,
Ukraine it’s not Tolstoy,
CCCP was not Tolstoy also,
CCCP was Orwell,
This essay it’s Lem,
and I am Goofy….
ok… hmmmm….
peace and love for everyone… ;)
Hey! Nice to see this has made its way here! Great piece, as I’ve said before!
С приветом
Петр
Yulia..:))
sorry i got distracted making jokes and i totally
forgot to tell you that your multimedia piece above
really works well…
I was presenting submitted essays from Burn to a friend the other night…
Non photographer…… guess what….. yours was the one he watched 3 times in a row…
over and over…..
I hope that means something!!!!!!!!
big hug!
thanks for the cinematic ideas you’ve given. for me. totally original.
panos skoulidas, thanks for a hug.
and yes, I hope watching the essay three times in a raw doesn’t mean only the problem with quick change of subtitles :-))
Your welcome Yulia…
:))))))
No, no.. He watched it at
least 3 times coz he LOVED IT..
keep it up..
Another big hug..
I chose to view the images without sound the first time around, I’m glad I did. The images each stand on their own, a very important fact for me. The excellence of each frame helps to modulate the competing moods vying for supremacy as each image comes to the fore. The colors, in particular the blues of the peeling painted walls & the reds & whites from the silk chutes are divine. Photo essays have their own inner lives and forces that drive them, in this one the strength of the individual images is such that it allows the viewer to suspend a need to form an overarching mood or conception. The images drive home all the primal feelings they engender, without needing to have a sequential flow, although they were effectively placed here. Kudos to you, Yulia. This voyage was well enjoyed and will be remembered.
One of the things I love about this piece is that it was shot in an afternoon. Goes to show there are fascinating things out there that don’t necessarily need days, weeks, months, years and numerous plane tickets etc etc to be made into a viable essay. Sometimes a couple of hours is all it takes. That said, I could see it a few seconds shorter – some images could be cut and others lingered over a bit longer. The stop motion at the doors doesn’t really work for me either as it’s not used elsewhere and so takes me out of the flow. But I love the colors and compositions, and a fascinating subject. Well done.
Charles
отличный мультимедия проект, понравилось сочетание звука и фотографий.
Weird, blue-sy, intimate essay that mixes past and present, oversight and history, questions arise, answers never, in a way deliciously slavic. Thank you, Yulia, most enjoyable essay as you shot and edited it.
I really enjoyed this. You brought me to a place I never thought of going, literally and figuratively.
Great sense of place………… time……..
I’ve remade the essay recently, party due to some comments on BURN I consider very useful. You may find the final cut here – http://yuliaserdyukova.com/multimedia/cosmos.mov
Thanks again to everybody!
Thanks for the link……… great stuff