Oleksandr Glyadyelov

This photobook brings together over three decades of work by documentary photographer Oleksandr Glyadyelov. Known for his black-and-white images made with a Leica camera, he captures not only events and individuals, but the vulnerable states of society itself — moments when structures crack, when supports collapse, and something essential reveals itself in that fragility.

Although Glyadyelov’s photographic practice spans different countries and contexts — from Central Asia to Africa — this photobook focuses exclusively on images made in Ukraine. Yet it is neither an archive nor a linear narrative. “Time is not academic,” Glyadyelov notes. This position defines the book’s composition: instead of a chronology, it is structured thematically, around four central directions of his practice — the 1990’s as a period of transformation and disintegration; Children as a gaze from within a vulnerable condition; Protest as a phase of civic self-determination; and War as a long-term subject the photographer has been documenting in Ukraine and beyond.

Glyadyelov’s camera operates within a field of trust — with those who are rarely seen, or shown only from the outside. He sustains strong, lasting relationships with his subjects, bonds that extend far beyond the frame. As a result, his images serve not simply as testimonies about others, but as testimonies shared with them.

Throughout the course of his career, Glyadyelov has helped shape the field of Ukrainian documentary photography through his steady focus on those at the margins, his ongoing work with communities in crisis, and his readiness to remain where others turn away.
This work aims to document a country in the midst of dramatic change — in its pauses, tension, trauma, and dignity.


Oleksandr Glyadyelov (b. 1956) is a Ukrainian documentary photographer who has covered wars and armed conflicts in Moldova, Nagorno-Karabakh, Chechnya, and Ukraine. Beyond frontline reporting, he has developed long-term projects on vulnerable children, HIV/AIDS, and post-Soviet prisons. His photographs have been widely exhibited, published in photobooks, and recognized with major awards including the Shevchenko National Prize (2020).

This publication was made in collaboration with FotoEvidence.

Team

Photographs: Oleksandr Glyadyelov 

Publisher: ist publishing

Producer: Andriy Bozhok

Design and Layout: Volodymyr Havrysh

Art Direction: Anastasia Leonova, Volodymyr Havrysh

Text: Volodymyr Yermolenko

Editing: Oleksandra Sauliak, Tom Giuretis

Proofreading: Iryna Kurhanska

English Translation: Oleksandra Sauliak

Project Management: Anastasia Leonova, Kateryna Nosko,

Borys Filonenko, Yelyzaveta Pohasii

Expert Advice: Svetlana Bachevanova

Copyright Lawyer: Mariia Farbota, Mariia Sharova

Communications Manager: Polina Sopolieva