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Isolation in Ukraine: Photos from the Orange Revolution Bohdan Warchomij METAPHOR IMAGES April 23, 2020

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Kyiv’s Maidan Nezalezhnosty Independence Square Photo Bohdan Warchomij

One of the metaphors associated with Covid-19 is the metaphor

of fighting a war with an unseen enemy and the symbolism of

isolation. Looking through my images from coverage of the Orange

Revolution in Ukraine in 2004 the prevailing imagery seems linked

to the concept of isolation.

Photo Bohdan Warchomij

Although the Orange Revolution was a

people’s revolution and participants travelled from villages and towns

and cities into Kyiv to participate en masse in a change of

government many of the images published in my book “Portrait of

a Revolution” deal with individual isolation.

Crimea Photo Bohdan Warchomij

The exhibition of the

same name was part of Foto Freo in 2006 at Fremantle Prison.

A child suffering from leukemia in a Lviv Hospital Photo Bohdan Warchomij

A Russian serviceman with his feet amputated in Afghanistan begs on the streets of Lviv Photo Bohdan Warchomij

 

A Russian amputee from the Russo Afghan War begs on the Streets of Lviv  Photo Bohdan Warchomij

Tony Bective from Luna Cinemas in Leederville pre Perth’s lockdown

was screening these images on Luna’s screen prior to film screenings.

Sadly they can no longer be screened on the big screen but I thought

it was an opportunity to share them on my blog Metaphor Online.

The photos were shot on a Hasselblad X Pan camera on Ilford FP4

and HP5.

Ice Sculpture near Verhovna Rada Ukrainian Parliament Photo Bohdan Warchomij

Australian activist from Melbourne supporting the revolution Photo Bohdan Warchomijj

Digital images in colour for the Times of London, the

Guardian and the Globe and Mail were shot on a Canon 10D. Many of

the colour images finished up being published in the book.

An elderly women tends her chickens in Crimea Photo Bohdan Warchomij

A hunter with his hawk in Crimea Photo Bohdan Warchomij

Worldometer.info shows statistics from each country in the world.

Australia, with approximately half the population of Ukraine, has a

total of 6660 cases with 75 deaths as of 23 April 2020, while Ukraine

has 6592 cases with 174 deaths. Testing rates in Australia are much

higher than Ukraine’s.

A Crimean hunter with farm tools belonging to his father prior to his forced resettlement in Siberia WW II Photo Bohdan Warchomij

 

 

Arcadia in Perth Photos Bohdan Warchomij November 26, 2016

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A 50-tonne fire-breathing spider  appeared last night at Elizabeth Quay on the foreshore of Perth.

The beast itself is made of recycled military machinery and industrial components; its eyes are from spy planes while its legs are partially constructed from helicopter tails. It’s 15 metres tall with flames that reach a similar height.The Landing Show sees the spider from another planet awake in a flurry of lights and analyse its surroundings before unleashing aerialists that embody the actions of spiders – two of them are spun into a web cocoon while suspended well off the ground.

The Landing Show, each night will feature The Lords Of Lightning and the traditional performance Yallorr Keeninyarra. As the sun sets over the river, the dance of the Dance of the Wadjuk Nyungar/People began; a powerful performance connecting the Arcadia spider and the sacred Wadjuk spider of Garrgatup (meaning Kings Park, which was in view across the river as the performance unfolded). It’s an important and engaging piece that hasn’t been performed to the public in its traditional form since 1901 and sees the claws of the spider waving an Aboriginal flag.

Perched just behind the spider were two raised platforms that frame the scene for The Lords Of Lightning, a performance piece that was amazing. One could feel the static and charge in the air as the two dancers wielded four million volts of electricity… through their bodies. An astonishing performance on the banks of the Swan River.

 

 

Kalgoorlie: Death of Elijah Doughty Fourteen Years of Age Photos Bohdan Warchomij September 8, 2016

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Flying into Kalgoorlie with  a dozen police officers scrambled  to replace the dozen injured when a mob of 200 protestors demonstrated outside the Kalgoorlie Courthouse

where a 55 year old man was charged with the manslaughter  of 14 year old Elijah Doughty near Gribble Creek in Boulder feels a little surreal.

We are late on the scene but there are stories to be told.  There is Albert Doubty’s paternal grandfather who looked after Elijah from eight years of age until he recently moved back to his father’s home.

“Identifying my grandson’s body was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do — it broke my heart to see him there, mowed down from behind, lying there still with his little hat on.”

Mr Doughty said life for young indigenous people had “gotten worse” in the 16 years since he began working at the region’s ­indigenous medical service. He blamed drugs including marijuana, speed and ice, which he said children were buying with lunch money.

There is the story of Hayley Garlett the 18 year old girl who spontaneously defended the police line at the courthouse  in Hannan Street against a rampaging mob reacting to the emotion of the moment.

There is the story of Elijah’s brother Shontaye James who wants to join the police force and wonders what may have been in store for Elijah in a different world.

There is the toxic role of social media that needs to be examined.  The Kalgoorlie Facebook Closed Page “Kalgoorlie Crimes Whinge an Whine” has 17000 members and spreads  a vengeful sadness.

There is the story of the Kalgoorlie police youth crime intervention officers who are in tune with the young juveniles. Constable Brian Enad is spontaneously hugged by the young aborigines at the vigil in Gribble Creek when he and fellow officers turn up to lay flowers at the shrine to Elijah Doubty.

There are undoubtably many more stories in the twin cities of Kalgoorlie Boulder that need to be told.  For me it has been a time of sadness and sleeplessness as I contemplate the unnecessary death of a child on a short and unfulfilled journey.

 

Mother Theresa Now A Saint of Calcutta Photos Bohdan Warchomij September 7, 2016

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I took these photos in 1997 just after Mother Theresa’s death in the city that was synonymous  with her charity.

I worked in her hospices, and her orphanages and her clinics and on the streets for a period of six weeks after meeting Perth sister Sister Ella,

who inspired me to take the trip to Kolkata. It took time to organise the trip and Mother Theresa had passed away by the time I got there.

Her successor Sister Nirmala and her entourage were swamped by the world’s media at the time but I was given access to Mother House and volunteered

wherever I could with girls from Germany, France, and the USA and walked the streets of the City of Joy with them when their day’s work was finished. I worked with an NGO called Calcutta Rescue founded by a wonderful man called Jack Preger in 1980.

These photos remind of the spirituality I felt at Mother House and formed the basis of my first and only exhibition at the Perth Centre for Photography when it shared a space with the Blue Room in Perth’s Cultural Centre.

 

 

Targa West Photos Bohdan Warchomij Metaphor Images August 12, 2016

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Targa West is a rally event held in and around Perth, Western Australia. The event takes its name from the Targa Florio, a former motoring event held on the island of Sicily, as well as more recent Australian events including Targa Tasmania, now defunct East Coast TargaTarga New Zealand and Classic Adelaide.

The inaugural event was held in 2005 and won by Ross Dunkerton. Dunkerton also won the 2006 event which ran for four days from 7 September 2006 in a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX.

The cars in the rally 2016 left from Forrest Place for Barbagallo Raceway on Thursday 11th of August for stage 1 of the Rally

Night Out at the Noodle Markets Elizabeth Quay PERTH Photos Bohdan Warchomij April 7, 2016

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Portraits from OZ Comic Convention Photos Bohdan Warchomij April 5, 2016

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Oz Comic Con is a comics fan convention that has been running since at least 2014 and is a local franchise of New York Comic Con, Thanks to the amazing people who shared their portraits with me on Sunday.

 

 

Blackmarket: PVI Collective March 9, 2016

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Part audio-driven intervention, part real-life video game, blackmarket invited Perth aficionados  into a dark underworld of unlicensed street selling and entrepreneurial trading.

In the world of the game, the global financial crisis has arrived and people have to fight for survival as ‘hustlers’ within a black market economy. Exposed to an underground economic structure  they began to fend for themselves.

People were encouraged to learn to adapt and to mould themselves into more capable creatures in order to survive within this black market economy.

Survivors learnt to trade with the goods they brought with them on the night, hustling with shadowy figures down darkened alleyways, arranging rendezvous points and peddling their wares in order to get what people  needed to cope with an impending societal collapse.

The season is over but the experience can be visited at the Blackmarket trading floor exhibition at the rear of the Rockeby Road car park near the Hay Street intersection until the 19th of March 2016.

Steve Bull and Kelly Bull and Mariyon Slany Subiaco City Public Art Officer opened the exhibition on the 4th of March.

‘Co Founder of pvi – Kelli McCluskey has  this week been announced as the recipient of one of the 8 2016 Australia Council Awards for the category of Emerging and Experimental Arts Award.  These awards recognise eight distinguished Australian artists who have made an exceptional contribution to the arts over many years.  David Malouf is also on the list for  Lifetime Achievement in Literature so she is in highly esteemed company and well deserved for Kelli’s vision.  She flew to Sydney this week to receive this prestigious national award – the highest honour the National Council can give. Congratulations Kelli McCluskey.’ (edited from the exhibition opening speech by Mariyon Slany Subiaco City Public Art Officer).

Transition to Darkness: Sculpture by the Sea Cottesloe Beach Photos Bohdan Warchomij March 9, 2016

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Sculpture by the Sea’s pulling power is enormous. As the sun sinks on a beautiful autumn night people come to the peace of Cottesloe Beach as the day transitions to darkness and the sculptures take on a life of their own in the half light. Photos Bohdan Warchomij

Exit LIMBO, FRINGE, PIAF: Photos Bohdan Warchomij March 8, 2016

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An intoxicating mix of cabaret, circus and acrobatics, LIMBO continues to seduce audiences worldwide with a celebration of otherworldly proportions. It seduced Perth and photographer Bohdan Warchomij whose images hint at the magic and music that drives the show.

It was sad to see the show and its performers ship out on Sunday to Tasmania. The show has been a huge success at Elizabeth Quay.

LIMBO sold out its premiere season at the Adelaide Fringe Festival in 2013. Since then it has captivated audiences at London Wonderground Festival, 2013-14 (UK); Edinburgh Christmas Festival, 2013 (UK); Sydney Festival 2014-15 (AUS); Festival de Teatro Bogota, 2014 (COL); Aalborg Spiegeltent Festival, 2014 (DNK); Brisbane Festival, 2014 (AUS); Tollwood Winter Festival, Munich 2014 (GER); Auckland Festival, 2015 (NZL); and Kermezzo(o), Brussels, 2015 (BEL).

Directed by Scott Maidment, and presented in the magnificent 1920s inspired Spiegeltent, LIMBO whisks audiences into a sinister netherworld of gut-churning contortion, breath-taking acrobatics and jaw-dropping stunts.

LIMBO’s stunning international cast also features: Coney Island’s sword swallower and vintage beauty, Heather Holliday; French gravity-defying Chinese pole master, beatboxer and clown, Mikael Bres; Australia’s acrobatic dancing sensation Hilton Denis; the exquisite French-Canadian aerialist, Evelyne Allard; the unstoppable hand balancer Danik Abishev.  The show is so hot, Madonna came twice.

http://limbotheshow.com/