Young and free #17

Ukraine, 2017-2021 Images engage a generation of young men caught up in the shifting history of their country but determined to live freely. In his photographs, this freedom finds emblematic form in nakedness. Liberated from the social signifiers of dress and uniform, the young men assert themselves as individuals independent of wider societal constructs. And, in so doing, they succeed in appearing both innocent and provocative. Their nudity tends to lead the imagination to metaphor – to see them not simply as individuals but as capturing the spirit of a generation. (c) Alasdair Foster