Anna Kovalevska New Page page

Fractured worlds

I began this project during my Master's at Bath Spa University, photographing locations in Poland and Germany. It is a combination of intuitive street photography and perceptual thinking, exploring the traces and fragments of human experience in areas marked by historical conflict.

The project is a journey towards understanding the fractured world as it unfolds, with war in Ukraine always in the background of everything I do. Noticing the unusual beauty and often vibrant street culture, traces of sadness, and seeking signs of hope and recovery, I capture the essence of a place on expired film.

Rabka-Zdrój, Krakow, Berlin, London, Belfast, Dunkirk, Cologne...

The journey begins in Poland

I visit Rabka-Zdrój to meet the artists who fled the war in Ukraine. During my visit, I uncover a chilling legacy of World War II and have the opportunity to speak with people continuing emotional and physical restoration of the area. From 1940 to 1944, a Nazi SS training facility occupied the building that once housed a girls' high school called "Thereska." The building and the site have been completely renovated, now hosting a school for the blind and disabled children.In the forest behind the building, there lie mass graves of victims who were executed by the school's students.

Holocaust cemetery behind the school

01/07

Kazimierz: mass relocation

In 1939, the Nazi blockaded all Jewish homes in Kazimierz and other parts of Kraków, forcibly relocating residents and brutally confiscating their belongings.

Today, Kazimierz is a thriving quarter with a faint sound of absence still perceivable.

01/08

Berlin

The Brandenburg Gate and layers of perception

London

Information layers: home is where the roof is

Belfast

I have immersed myself in the history of The Troubles through a guided tour and conversations with residents and those who no longer live here at the Trauma Summit I attended.

Dunkirk

I walked through the area of the crossing, which has seen many soldiers saved during WWII, as well as the nearby sculpture park. The film I used was so old that it leaked the backing pigment to the film itself, creating a multidimensional effect.

01/03

Cologne

Post WWII bombings:

The Cathedral that stood

and

the daily rides