DON’T LET ME DISAPPEAR (2022-2023)

DON’T LET ME DISAPPEAR is a project about the City, exploring the lives of its inhabitants and the sense of loss.

We have become increasingly entangled in complicated global changes and it’s hard to escape or at least to find support.  I’m trying to understand how the political events of the past few years affect the City, its people and their emotions through the lens of my own personal experience.

Since the 2020 political elections, I have been enduring a persistent feeling of loss which has been further exacerbated by the onset of war, profoundly impacting my perception of the City. Numerous Belarusians have been imprisoned or compelled to flee the country, a large number of whom are close friends and acquaintances of mine. Those who have remained, including myself, live in a state of anxiety as their once familiar world grows increasingly spectral against the backdrop of the urban architecture, so familiar and dear.

The City encompasses more than just its physical landscape and architecture; it carries the imprints of time and our collective memory, like echoes of those who have departed. Amidst uncertainty, the city undergoes its own transformations, slipping away while simultaneously embracing us. The world shrinks to a shadow on the wall, its plaster flaking and windows boarded-up. And then again, it expands to the rooftops that reach up into the sky towards slowly drifting clouds. The city moves at its own pace, while I desperately cling to it, trying to hold on to what truly matters or at least find a sturdy foothold amidst the chaos. I endeavor to transcend time itself in order to preserve what remains as an attempt to prevent both the city and myself from disappearing.

This project was created between 2022-2023 in Minsk. Multi-exposure was used when capturing some shots.