Quick Facts
Biography
Oleksandr Volodymorovych Chekmenyov (Ukrainian: Олександр Володимирович Чекменьов, Russian: Александр Владимирович Чекменёв, born April 1, 1969) is a Ukrainian documentary photographer and photojounalist based in Kiev.
Career
Chekmenyov made his first photo while in school, attended a photoclub and later got a professional certificate from a licensed photo studio in Luhansk in 1989.
In 1992 he graduated from the photography school of Moscow State University. He worked for a studio in Luhansk and did small time jobs taking pictures of weddings, birthdays and other occasions. He also occasionally volunteered as a forensic photographer for an ambulance brigade in the city.
In 1997 he was invited to a Kiyv-based daily newspaper as a photojounalist and moved to Kiev. In 1998 the newspaper ceased operation, Alexander became a freelancer and has been working as an independent photojounalist ever since.
Photo books
His first book was called simply «Black and white photographs» and was published in 2008 in Kiev as a part of series on Ukrainian photography. In 2011 Alexander made a private print of his book «Donbass» in Germany. His next book «Passport» was based on his work of 1994-1995 and was published in the UK in 2017.
As a single author
- 2017 — «Passport», Dewi Lewis Publishing, 156p, ISBN 978-1-911306-06-1
- 2011 — «Donbass», KEHRER Heidelberg, German/English/Russian, ISBN 978-3-86828-185-9
- 2008 — «Black and white photography», Artbook publishers, Kiev 124p Ukrainian/English, ISBN 978-966-96916-4-4
In collaboration
- 2008 — «Insight. Ukrainian black and white photography in the XXI century»
Exhibitions
Personal
- 2015 — Palffy Palace, Bratislava, Slovakia, «Donbass» series
- 2014 — Galerie Clara Maria Sels, Düsseldorf, Germany, «Mad World» series
- 2013 — Märkisches Museum, Witten, Germany, «Donbass» series
- 2012 — Galerie Clara Maria Sels, Düsseldorf, Germany, «Donbass» series
- 2010 — Museum of Contemporary Art in Perm, Russia, «Donbass» series
- 2008 — Ya-gallery, Kiev, «Street portraits in color» series
- 2007 — Ya-gallery, Kiev, «Black and white photography» series
- 2007 — Iren gallery, Kiev, «Tha Victors» series
- 2001 — Zamek gallery, Poznan, Poland, «Ukrainian passport», «Lilac», «The Blind», «Easter», «Portraits», «The Miners» series
- 2001 — City art gallery in Olsztyn, Poland, «Ukrainian passport», «Lilac», «The Blind», «Easter», «Portraits», «The Miners» series
- 2000 — City art gallery in Poprad, Slovakia. «Ukrainian passport», «Lilac» series