Gil Bartz
Ukraine
[ EPF 2014 SHORTLIST ]
After I graduated from University I took all my money and the next night train to Kiev. For two month I travelled by train, bus and an old Lada Niva. Most of my photos are from people I stayed with for a couple of days or just a night. I never knew where to go next so I asked my Hosts and they always knew another friend or place that I had to visit. In Yasinovataya a small village near Donetsk I met Irina and her brother Dima and stayed at their grandparents` house for more than two weeks. The first photo of my series is a message from Irina from August. Most photos were taken in the year before the Ukraine crisis started.
Bio
Gil Bartz (b.1981, Germany)
After I finished school in 2002 I started working for television.
In 2007 I quit my job as a camera assistant and went to Berlin to study cinematography. In 2012 I graduated from the Film and Television University ‘Konrad Wolf’ in Potsdam- Babelsberg with Diploma.
For the next two years I traveled through the Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Russia taking pictures.
I live in Berlin. In 2013 I bought a tiny cabin near Poland where I spend most of my free time. Actually I am working on a long term project about life around my wooden cabin.
Related links
Ich bin einer fan !
Also like your story , just move around and see what comes your way .
It’s timeless , classic and there is the strengh and also a bit the weakness in that, cause this is the expected vission but done very well imo , a culture beautiful translated . To the core at times .
I get the portraits and although I am not taken with every portrait , I do like the insert of these .
Spaces , use of dof , some of the light and tones , the tattoo symbols etc , really well done .
Interesting series.
Image 6 really stood out for me, love that movement and composition.