Sergiy Solonsky

Sergiy Solonsky (UA, 1957) is one of the important personalities of the Kharkiv photographic community. In 1975 he began studying Chemistry at М. Grokiy Kharkiv State University (V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University now), but dropped out after a third year. While being a student, he attended a cinema club and gradually got interested in photography. He became an active participant of exhibitions since the late 1980s, drawing the public attention with his collages (Bestiary series). Solonsky’s compositions develop the principle of “module collage”, which is based on creating an image by repeating one element (Phallic Heraldry series). His pieces are defined by the inclination towards the surreal vision of the body: corporeal metamorphosis is represented not only with the help of montage, but other techniques, such as long exposure as well (Oscillations, 1993-1994). Despite his love for straight photography, it rarely appears in Solonsky’s oeuvre of the 1990s, mainly in some separate shots and two documentary series (Let’s have a drink and Moonshiners). Sergiy Solonsky was a member of The Fast Reaction Group in the mid-1990s together with Boris Mikhailov, Sergiy Bratkov and Vita Mikhailov. Since 2000, he works at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.