Photographs by Sergei Venyavsky: “An honest look at post-war life”

New works by Rostov photojournalist Sergei Venyavsky, dedicated to Mariupol, have entered the Presidential Library's collections. The first author's exhibition of the photographer was held in June 2022 in Moscow, in the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. Now his works are available on the Presidential Library's portal.

Photo album Mariupol. 2022 is dedicated to the city of Mariupol, liberated during a special military operation in May 2022. Candidate of Political Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Kuindzhi Political Science at Mariupol State University Evgeniy Ryabinin writes about the photographer’s works: “When looking through photographs, try to look into the eyes of people at war, feel their pain and hopelessness, hear the sound of a shell piercing the walls of peaceful houses, smell the fire where people cooked food for their children, and see the hope in the eyes that drove death away from the city, which, in spite of everything, survived and will live”.

Photobook Mariupol. Afterword... tells about the last days of the liberation of the Azovstal plant, the work of rescuers, doctors and volunteers, the return of the city to peaceful life. In the introductory note to the publication, Sergei Venyavsky writes: “During 2022, I visited a huge number of destroyed houses and districts of Mariupol, met different people and heard many personal stories of city residents, became acquainted with their difficult and sometimes tragic destinies. The book “Mariupol” is the first stage of my large project “Afterword” the main goal of which is to show Russia and the entire world community with an impartial and honest look at the post-war life of the liberated territories of Donetsk, Lugansk People’s Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions”.

The photo book Volunteers tells about those who are taking part in a special military operation today and about volunteer training centers.

Sergei Konstantinovich Venyavsky has been working in photojournalism since 1993. He travels around Russia, offering the world a first-hand look at what is happening. In February 2022, Sergei Venyavsky began working in the zone of a special military operation and traveled through all the liberated territories, from Donetsk to Kherson.

The Presidential Library's portal features the collections: Kherson Region: Pages of History, Zaporozhye Region: Pages of History, Crimea in Postcards where one can see other works of this photographer. Exhibition of photographs Crimea. Novorossiya. Russia showcases the revival of peaceful life in the liberated territories. Reportage photographs were taken by Sergei Venyavsky from 2022 to 2023 in the cities of the Zaporozhye Region (Berdyansk, Melitopol, Energodar), in Kherson Region (Kherson and Genichesk). The same photo album contains photographs taken in Republic of Crimea - in Sevastopol, Simferopol and Bakhchisarai.

The exhibition of the photojournalist Cossack Donbass includes photographs taken at different times of the year during trips to the cities of Rostov Region, Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. The photographs convey the historical unity of cultures, traditions, religion and mentality of the inhabitants of Rostov Region and Western Donbass. This photo album is presented in the collections: Russian Cossacks, Lugansk People’s Republic: Pages of History, Donetsk People’s Republic: Pages of History.