Photography in Ukraine

Photography, as a branch of science, technology and art, developed in Ukraine in different ways, as historically lands were divided between two empires: Russia and Austria.

Over the next century, knowledge in the field of chemistry was constantly improved, as well as technical aspects of exposure to light-sensitive substances and long-term fixation of the obtained images.

In Ukraine, photography as a form of art and a field of technology came from two directions: in the western lands—from Austria-Hungary, and in the eastern—from the rest of the world, including Eastern Europe.

From 1864, M. Benzeman, Franz de Meser, the author of landscapes of Kyiv in the 1860s and 1880s, Josyp Kordysh (1868), M. Pasternak (1869) and others had photo studios.

From June 1886, Fedetsky, the founder of cinematography in Ukraine and tri-color photography, worked in Kharkiv, and was honored at foreign exhibitions for artistic portraits and landscapes.

Some of them include Arshenevsky, M. Bobyr, I. Haas, A. Hubchevsky, I. Yezersky, K. Parchevsky, M. Shukin and V. Favorsky, a researcher of microphotography.

The organization of amateur photographers was established at the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen's Press Apartment at the end of 1914 in the Carpathians.

In 1935, together with the Plai Tourist and Local History Society the aforementioned association organized the exhibition "Our Motherland in the Photo" with 68 participants.

After the revolution, in the 1920s and 1930s, and after the Second World War, amateur photography groups spread in Ukraine in different institutions, public organizations, and factories.

They periodically organized photo and travelling exhibitions outside Ukraine and competitions with cash prizes in all regional centers.

It was not an official educational institution, but many professionals, who later formed the photographic environment of independent Ukraine (Viktor Marushchenko, Valery Kerekesh, Serhiy Pozharsky) graduated from it.