British art director Ben McLaughlin and independent publisher Officialzine are launching ‘Unofficial’, a publishing series spotlighting the places of origin of artists from around the world. The series debuts with ‘Dnipro, The Plunging Shore’, a photo zine documenting the landscapes and everyday life along the 2,200-kilometre course of Ukraine’s Dnipro River
The protagonist of ‘Dnipro, The Plunging Shore’ is Ukrainian stylist and art director Yevheniia Skvarska, who is originally from Kyiv.
During the summers of 2023 and 2024, she and documentary photographer Kalpesh Lathigra travelled 2,200 kilometres along the course of Ukraine’s longest river. Throughout the journey, she introduced Lathigra to the places of her childhood, and the photographs from the trips were included in the photo zine.
According to Skvarska, the need to document life along the river emerged after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, particularly following the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in 2023. Rather than focusing on the devastation, however, the project set out to capture what its creators describe as ‘the soul of the country’.
‘This story is made up of everyday scenes, moments of joy, and families swimming in the Dnipro in summer — continuing to live and resist even during the war’, Skvarska explains.
The 38 photographs featured in ‘Dnipro, The Plunging Shore’ were shot on large-format film without any predetermined theme or goal. They were selected and edited by the curator of the Fashion Image Master’s program at Central Saint Martins, where Skvarska began working on the project while still a student.
The photo zine is also complemented by the documentary project ‘Dnipro Fotostudiia’, dedicated to the Ukrainian community in London, which was realized there over the course of a single weekend.
‘Dnipro, The Plunging Shore’ was published in an edition of 450 copies and is available for purchase at select bookstores and on the Officialzine website.
About the ‘Unofficial’ series
The idea for ‘Unofficial’ originated from McLaughlin during conversations about authenticity. In the series, he focuses on lesser-known places ‘that the world rarely pays attention to’ and that are not cultural centers in the classical sense. In the artist’s view, ‘the more unexpected the place, the better’.
By documenting a specific place, the series allows artists who ‘come from there’ to tell its story from their own perspective.
Переглянути цей допис в Instagram
Ben also decided not to limit himself to a single publication format; it will change depending on the specific issue in the series. The team plans to release two works per year, and work on the next two is already underway.
