Serhii Melnychenko

Serhii Melnychenko (Ukrainian: Сергій Мельниченко, born 26 October 1991, Mykolaiv, Ukraine) is a Ukrainian photographer, dancer, master of sports of the international class in ballroom dances (2005). Founder of the school of conceptual and art photography MYPH (2018). Member of the creative association Ukrainian Photographic Alternative (2012).

In 2017, he became the first Ukrainian to receive the German Leica Oskar Barnack Award Newcomer.

Since his teenage years, he has been dancing, performing abroad, in particular in China.

In 2014, graduated from the Admiral Makarov National University of Shipbuilding with a specialization — computer systems engineer.

With the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he began volunteering.

Started photography in 2009.

In 2012, he rethought his own approach to artistic practice after communicating with Roman Piatkovka, a representative of the Kharkiv School of Photography.

Author of the series Schwarzenegger is my idol (2012, 2020; book of the same name published), Polaroids from China (2015), From Dusk till Dawn (2015—2017, 2018; a book of the same name was published), Passengers (2017), Young and Free (2017—2021), Fundamental Space Explorations of Naked Singularity (2019—2021) and others.

Photos are published in The Independent Photographer, Fisheye Magazine.

Works are presented in private and public collections in the US, Hong Kong, Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany, Belgium, Russia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Japan, Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland etc.

• 2013 – Winner Of Contest Photographer Of The Year 2012 In Nomination Series Of The Year (Fine Art) – Kyiv, Ukraine
• 2013 – International Contest Golden Camera 2012 – 1st Place In Nomination Conceptual Photography, Amateur – Kyiv, Ukraine
• 2013 – Shortlist Of Krakow Photomonth Festival – Krakow, Poland
• 2015 – Short-List Of Pinchuk Art Centre Prize – Kyiv, Ukraine
• 2017 – 1st Place In The National Awards Photographer Of The Year 2016, Street Professional Category – Kyiv, Ukraine
• 2017 – Winner Of Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award 2017 – Berlin, Germany
• 2020 – Nomination on Foam Paul Huf Award – Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 2022 – Becoming a part of Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung foundation collection – Münich, Germany
• 2022 – FUTURES talent, nominated by ISSP (Riga, Latvia) – Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 2023 – Nomination on Foam Paul Huf Award – Amsterdam, Netherlands

Personal exhibitions

• 2012 – Nails – Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine
• 2013 – Schwarzenegger Is My Idol – Lviv, Ukraine
• 2013 – Schwarzenegger Is My Idol – Showoff Section Of Krakow Photomonth Festival – Krakow, Poland
• 2014 – Les Amours Imaginaries, Closer – Kyiv, Ukraine
• 2014 – Les Amours Imaginaries Odesa Museum Of Modern Art Arteria– Odesa, Ukraine
• 2014 – Schwarzenegger Is My Idol, Fiebre Galería – Buenos Aires, Argentina
• 2014 – Art-Book Presentation In Frames Of Private Residency Program The Muzychi Expanded History Project – Kyiv, Ukraine
• 2014 – Schwarzenegger Is My Idol In Frames Of Off_Festival Bratislava 2014 – Bratislava, Slovakia
• 2014 – Military Commissariat, Estudio Ñ – Valdivia, Chile
• 2015 – Les Amours Imaginaries In Frames Of Landskrona Fotofestival – Landskrona, Sweden
• 2017 – Behind The Scenes, Trzecie Oko Gallery – Krakow, Poland
• 2017 – Behind The Scenes – Mykolaiv, Ukraine
• 2017 – Paris Photo 2017″, Behind The Scenes/Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2017 – Paris, France
• 2017 – PLAYDAY, Face Foundation/Mironova Gallery – Kyiv, Ukraine
• 2018 – Behind The Scenes, Claude Samuel Gallery – Paris, France
• 2018 – Sztuka w dialogu, Loneliness online and Polaroids from China, Piekno Panie Gallery – Lublin, Poland
• 2018 – Loneliness online, SomoS Art Gallery – Berlin, Germany
• 2018 – Only Now Only Never, FACE Foundation – Kyiv, Ukraine
• 2018 – Behind the scenes, European Month of Photography, Galéria Michalský dvor – Bratislava, Slovakia
• 2019 – Leica Gallery London – London, UK
• 2019 – Schwarzenegger is my idol, Museum of Kharkiv School of Photography – Kharkiv, Ukraine
• 2019 – From Dusk Till Dawn, f22 foto space – Hong Kong
• 2020 – Young and free, Leica 6×7 Gallery, curator Adam Mazur – Warsaw, Poland
• 2021 – Fundamental Space Explorations of Naked Singularity – Vasli Souza Gallery, Oslo, Norway
• 2022 – Young and free? / Metaheroes – Esther Okada Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
• 2022 – Fundamental Space Explorations of Naked Singularity, The Great Finding. Step One – Subject. With Mitya Fenechkin – Asortymentna kimnata gallery, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine