“Photography is about enjoying life intensely every hundredth of a second.”

Marc Riboud, photographer

“Variability is the ability of living organisms to acquire new traits that differ from their ancestors and their states in the process of individual development, the diversity of traits among members of a given species” – this definition of an organism’s ability is familiar to us from biology lessons at school. Even then, the first doubts about the permanence of all living things creep in, and you realize the infinite variability.

“Variability” often means changes in character and actions, spontaneity of decisions. To add intrigue to a text, this word is often used by Ukrainian writers. Remember: “Revealing the variability of stirred thoughts” by Oles Dosvitnyi. Or: “All my life I have been attracted and excited by the stars-their perfect and always new beauty and mysterious impermanence.”- Mykhailo Stelmakh. It is also used by the art criticism community: in a synonymous series along with “changeability,” “impermanence,” “instability” to describe a work of art or an artist’s handwriting.

Hasn’t “impermanence” acquired a new meaning in Ukrainian everyday life? Yes, it has. The war proved the reality of the all-encompassing state of impermanence. Changing peace, changing security, changing life… These are the new meanings of the established concept that Andriy Piven came face to face with on February 24, 2022.

The 49-year-old photographer devoted his work, hobbies, and love to his native Druzhkivka, where he lived happily with his family. It was in this town in the Donetsk region that he discovered street photography. Provincial everyday life, inspired by the stories of residents and visitors of noisy streets, shady squares or concrete courtyards. Thanks to the author’s intelligence, the photographs have complex compositions and metaphorical subjects, and dialogues of color and light appear in them. Hundreds of books read, hours of music listened to and movies watched, and communication, communication and more communication with people – all this gives a unique shade of “humanity” in the perception of Andriy Piven’s photographs. As the author himself says, “everything – music, literature and fine arts – should sound in a single chord.” And he embodies this idea in photography.

His creative work was cut by the war. In his hometown, he freely photographed life as it was, and we can see it in a monochrome series that is projected on the wall. He captured moments of joy, ridiculousness, and sincere surprise. He recorded history through the lens and unshielded gaze of a master, without tearing out a single page from this guidebook. As a true researcher, he was interested in every detail.

But the full-scale invasion reset the meters and started a new story in Khmelnytskyi. For a year and a half now, Andriy Piven has been building a new life here and adapting to wartime conditions. He rarely has the opportunity to create a favorite street photo, because his daily routine is now a quick trip from his dorm room to work and back. These are the conditions of time, place, and condition.

However, the artist transforms these limitations – embodies the function of impermanence in photography. In the limited spaces of the dormitory, its small rooms, dusty windowsills, and hidden corners, he finds objects for creativity. The eye falls on an ordinary household object – and the magic of the frame turns it into an abstract still life. Or a glance through the “filter” of a window pane captures him in a self-portrait. Both color and light accompany the artist in his work in a discreet and sensual way. There is also a place in the exhibition for Andriy’s native city, its nuances and accents. These photographs bear the imprints of sadness and longing for another heaven, spaces that are forever in the artist’s heart.

The impermanence of the present is hidden in the exhibition. The variability of the future is denied by its content. After all, the absolute of faith reigns here – in victory, reconstruction, return, art and life!

Olha Nikitina, researcher at KhRAM