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8
Opinion&Analysis
TracesoftheSovietUnion,WojciechGórecki
ThroughSputnik’slenses
Teinternationalgroupofphotographers,whodescribethemselvesasaucol-
lective”(acommunist-soundingnameinitself)andcalltheirprojectSputnik
Photos(www.sputnikphotos.com),wasestablishedin2006.Teprojectbrings
togetherartistsfromPolandandotherCentralEuropeanstateswhosebiographies
demonstratethatthisisaninitiativeofacertaingeneration.Temajorityofthe
photographerswereborninthelate1970s,whichmeansthatatthetimeofthe
SovietUnion’scollapsetheywerestillteenagers.Teysetupthegroupwhenthey
wereintheir20s(shortlyaftercompletingtheirstudiesandstartingtheircareers)
andarenowreaching40.Tisisthelastgenerationthathadfirst-handexperience
withcommunism.Atthesametime,thisisagenerationthathasbeenformedby
thenewpost-communistreality.
Troughphotography,filmandaphotobookthegrouphasbeenconstructing,
foroveradecadenow,arecordofthetransformationoftheformerSovietbloc
(letmeadmitthatthetopicofphotographshasbeen
Byusingphotography,
limitedsolelytotheterritoriesoftheformerUSSR).
filmandaphotobook
Teartistshavebeenworkingwithateamofcurators,
theSputnikcollective
writers,graphicartistsandculturalactivists.With
documentaryphotographybeingtheirexitpoint,the
hasbeenconstructing
projectcontemplatesthecontemporarydimension
arecordofthe
andfunctionofthisspace.Itexperimentswithform
transformationofthe
andcontentandthus,animportantcomponentof
SputnikPhotosareitsdiverseformsofvisualeduca-
formerSovietbloc.
tionwhichsupportandpromoteyoungartistsfrom
theregion.
SofartheLostTerritorieshasbeenthemostimportantprojectoftheSputnik
group.ItincludestheLostTerritoriesArchive(orLTA),whichisacollectionof
severalthousandphotographsthathavebeenusedinnumerousinstallations,ex-
hibitionsandbooks.Teyhavebeenappliedinmanydiferentnarrativesdevoted
tounderstandingthevariousaspectsofthepost-Sovietspace.Whatismore,the
LTAshouldbeseenasacollectionofworksofindividualartistswhohavetrav-
elledacrosstheformerSovietrepublicsandwhohavetakenphotographsinde-
pendentlyoftheirworkfromtheSputnikgroup.Eachphotographerhasworked
forhisorherrecognition,presentingthephotosorpublishingtextswiththeir
ownnames.Yetthoseindividualprojectsarelaterde-constructed,whichdeprives
themoftheiruniquecontextandtheybecomeacomponentofacompletelynew
chronicle.WhenusedaspartoftheSputnikproject,theauthorsdonotreceive
creditforthephotos.Inthisway,theybecomepartofthecollectiveworkofthe
