Ukrainian Village - Robinson on the farm

A KALTBLUT exclusive. “Hello. My name is Oleksandr Mazur, I am a photographer from Ukraine. I wanted to tell a story that I photographed for 8 days on the farm. The history of “Robinson on the Farm”. The story is about the girl Angelica under the pseudonym “Robinson on the farm”. This girl has good looks, a gold medal from school and is generally a very interesting person.”

“She is a writer, reads many books, and studies astrophysics and psychology. But despite everything, she lives most of her life on a farm in Ukraine, near the Ternopil region (even during the war), where there are only three houses and an endless field around. He eats what the garden gives, does farming, spins, knits, writes books, and has lots of dogs and chickens. It all fascinated me, but over time we agreed that I would come and shoot. When the moment came, I went to her farm. It’s been a long road first it was necessary to go from Kyiv to Ternopil, from there to the village, and then by taxi to the farm.

When I arrived, I saw Angelica walking in a dressing gown with a bunch of dogs and a small cat on her shoulders. The movie “Ice” immediately came to mind Ventura” and wanted to make a joke, but her face was very stern and unfriendly, so I decided not to. I knew that she is a complex and specific person, so be ready for it. We said hello and I hugged her. She settled me in the house and allocated me a room. Instead of resting and sleeping after a hard journey, I immediately
went with her to the garden to pull weeds. I wanted to experience more of the life she lives and create a connection between us. Then I studied the place where she was living. It was truly a place of inspiration, every corner inspired me. I watched the light, constantly watching it change to create the atmosphere I wanted.

The next day we started to pick up clothes for filming, we looked for them in bags in the attic, imagine, the clothes that are collected for filming are taken directly from the attic It was very hot there, so Angelica waited for me on the ladder and watched what I was doing there, and I was there in hell and threw what I liked there.

It was very funny, in my opinion, because the dogs immediately grabbed the clothes and ran away with them. When I styled our images, sometimes there were disagreements. Angelica wanted one way, and I wanted another, it was difficult, but I liked it because a person has his own opinion and position. We were filming how she does laundry, works in the garden, reads in bed in kindergarten, her connection with the horse (which they have known since childhood) and her uncle, with chickens, and dogs, twirls, as she fools around and climbs trees, her legs covered in scars from life. I took a picture of her running in the rain, I wanted to give her away positive emotions, which, in my opinion, this person lacks.

Sometimes I suggested that she dress as she wanted and do makeup (which I did not approve of in our filming). I wanted her to feel different every day. After each shooting in the evening, we considered what to do, laughed a lot at the failed photos (by the way, I kept them) were inspired by the cool shots we took, it was probably the only moment that united us and gave us the motivation to wake up in the morning and shoot further. Because in general, it was difficult for us, personally for me. Angelica’s mood was like the wind, it changed very often. I wanted to leave every day at home, but the professional approach to the matter, my inspiration and my desire to complete this shooting stopped me.

It seemed to me that this story could be compared to the movie “The Bridges of Madison County”, there too the photographer came to the farm to shoot and found his love. But we have a different story, more real and vital.” Text by Oleksandr Mazur.