Ukrainian photographer Oleksandr Ranchukov, who died last year, primarily made a name for himself shooting architecture, and his pictures of buildings and urban spaces have appeared in several academic publications. But he also liked to take his camera out onto the streets of his native Kyiv and other cities to pursue his own gritty brand of street photography.
As he took many of these photos in the 1980s, his bleak black-and-white images provide a record of life in the latter days of the Soviet Union that stands in stark contrast to that which was portrayed in the official propaganda of that era.
In a recent essay on his work, fellow photographer and art critic Oleksandr Lyapin said Ranchukov primarily saw himself as a chronicler of his times and hoped his images would "complement the story of the sad end of the U.S.S.R., the dull streets of the city showing its decay..."
"Ranchukov was a street photographer, but he had almost no interest in the aesthetics of street photography," Lyapin said. Instead, he simply "painted the picture of Soviet everyday life -- dull and inexpressive, even dead: identical gray streets, unsightly clothes, street vendors, puddles, and dirt."
Needless to say, conditions for street photography were not ideal in the somewhat paranoid milieu of the U.S.S.R., which is probably why Ranchukov relied mainly on the Soviet-era Kiev 4 camera for most of his city shots. According to Lyapin, this "quiet but very accurate" device meant that Ranchukov was often able to photograph people without being noticed, thus ensuring a natural, realistic depiction of Soviet streets.
In addition to capturing what one critic has called the "gloomy dignity" of Soviet life, Ranchukov was also on hand to record the dramatic changes that occurred on the streets of Kyiv as the Soviet system rapidly collapsed. Indeed, his shots showing the advent of capitalism in his native city rank among his most striking images.
Not surprisingly, for most of his career, there wasn't much official appetite for Ranchukov's warts-and-all approach to street photography and it wasn't until the latter days of perestroika that he and other like-minded photographers were allowed to exhibit their depictions of city streets.
Nonetheless, even in such relatively relaxed times, these photographs' unflinching look at Soviet life caused consternation among the authorities, and one of their first exhibitions in Kyiv was shut down after just one day by scandalized KGB and Communist Party apparatchiks.
Although these images didn't go down well with Soviet bureaucrats, they obviously struck a chord with ordinary Kyiv residents, and crowds of people lined up to see them when the exhibition reopened at another location sometime later.
One of those who visited the Ranchukov exhibition in 1989 was a Canadian exchange student named Chrystia Freeland, who later became a prominent journalist and politician and is now her country's deputy prime minister.
Describing Ranchukov as a "brilliant and prolific documentary photographer," Freeland was instrumental in getting his images and those of some of his peers to the editors of The Independent newspaper in London, who "were hugely impressed by his work, and promptly published it."
"I was deeply moved by his ability to reveal the reality of life in Ukraine -- the country’s people, places, and streets," she told RFE/RL in an e-mail. "In capturing a key moment in Ukrainian history, often at personal risk, Oleksandr laid the groundwork for future Ukrainian photographers and artists to bring their work to the world stage. "
Unlike his architecture photography, Oleksandr Ranchukov's portraits of Soviet street life have never been published in book form. You can view other Ranchukov images and find out more about his life and work here.
