An abandoned b/w Photo-Archive from the Cold War period (1975 to 1990)
in Vinnytsia / Ukraine

In 2010 German photographer / filmmaker Burkhard von Harder embarked on a research trip to Ukraine where he stumbled upon a discovery in the attic of an abandoned building in Vinnytsia (Volhynia-Podolia). At that moment it wasn't immediately evident that the scattered strips of negatives he found were remnants of a photo archive dating back to Soviet times. These images most probably had been taken by photojournalists working for the regional communist daily newspaper, tasked with documenting events in and around Vinnytsia.

With official permission from the regional art museum, the negatives could be taken to Germany to be restored.

A meticulous process of cleaning and scanning followed before the material could be examined in depth for the first time. Subsequently, several print-on-demand publications were created and exhibited at international art book fairs.

In 2013 the project was headliner at the VIZII Festival in Kyiv (the FIRST FESTIVAL OF VISUAL CULTURE KYIV), Ukrainian writer Oksana Zabuzhko calling the archive's discovery a sensation (see her essay 'Back and White Atlantis').

In 2014, von Harder returned to Vinnytsia once more to conduct interviews with some "survivors" of the archive who had been located and were willing to share their experiences during the Soviet era and the transition into independence. However, due to the events surrounding Maidan, the filming was ultimately stopped.

One of the project's hopes is that, one day, the archive could find a physical home in Vinnytsia, where it originated. Until then, however, it is available online.