Gorsad: the photography crew playing by their own rules

The Kiev-based collective Gorsad — consisting of Julian, Masha and Vitja —represents a new wave of photographers from Ukraine. Their attitude is reckless: a body of work imbued with youthful energy, intimate and sometimes even explicit details.

Their characters could be friends or randomers, with only one rule, as they put it: “our heroes are self-sufficient and original people.” Gorsad’s in-your-face creative approach – bright flash, bold colours against a white background — is perfectly suited to contemporary media and to grabbing the attention of a new generation.

Like the finest examples of youth culture, it screams life, sex and attitude with underlying humour, sweetness and affection. Kiev, for this group, is a creative playground, albeit one at times a bit isolated from the creative communities of the rest of the world.

“The thing we don’t like is the feeling of locality and limitation, which is present almost in everything, when compared with other European cities,” they say. “But it is a very nice city to live in, there are a lot of amusing and symbolic places, which create a unique atmosphere.”

Text: Anastasiia Fedorova
Image: Gorsad
Date: December 2015