Elena Kalinichenko and five other photographers were mentored by Leibovitz and documented home life as they saw it. Elena’s photos were included in the Life at Home project by Annie Leibovitz and IKEA
About the project
Life at Home is 25 portraits of people from seven countries that reflect their authentic lives at home. ‘No sets or stylists, just real people and real lives’, IKEA describes the photos.
The photos were presented at the brand’s event during Paris Fashion Week. The exhibition will be open to the public until 3 March.
‘There was a thought that this was about the home. It really was about these people’s lives. It was so powerful and emotional to go into these people’s lives’, Leibovitz says.
About the mentorship programme
In addition to Leibovitz’s works, the exhibit includes photos of six of her mentees who did photo projects on the theme of home.
Among them are photos by Elena Kalinichenko. Her images show her friend Anya at the home of her friends, where the heroine now lives alone, and outside the destroyed house of her family.
According to Elena, working on the project was emotionally difficult for her, but realizing the importance of the photos, she wanted to show what ‘home’ is for Ukrainians.
‘Everyone thinks home is a safe place where you can go to relax and that you know it’s yours. But we know that it can be taken away in a second and it’s not safe anymore. That’s what I wanted to show’, Kalinichenko commented.
On Instagram, Anya said that the ruined house in the photo was built by her father, who died in 2021. ‘He put all his heart, time, money and ideas into it. Everything’, the girl shared.
‘All of our photos, books, piano and guitar, pictures drawn by my sister, my music records that I collected and that friends gave me, my grandfather’s binoculars from the war years, cameras and my favorite yellow raincoat — all of it burned, all burned in one moment, — Anya says. — This is my parents’ story, my family lives here. I just don’t have any words for this. They tore my heart and soul out’.
Among other participants in the project are photographers from France, the United States, Nigeria, Romania and the Netherlands.
All Life at Home photos can be viewed on the IKEA website.
Annie Leibovitz is an American photographer who has worked with Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Vogue and on her own projects. She has photographed John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and other stars.
In July 2022 Leibovitz came to Kyiv to take portraits of Olena Zelenska for American Vogue.
In February 2024, the publishing house ArtHuss released a photo book by Annie Leibovitz. It includes 350 works by the photographer, most of which have never been published before, an interview with Leibovitz, and a foreword by Anna Wintour. We told you more about the book here.
The Strategic Media Support Program project will implement the Lviv Media Forum with the financial support of People in Need (PIN) and Pioneer Foundation.
