strawberry fields
DESCRIPTION
The life of these children didn’t turn out the way they wanted it to. They all live at Children’s Home in Obidimo, Russia. Most of them fall into a category of social orphans, children who have been abandoned by their parents or whose parents have lost their parental rights. Many don’t have any relatives they know of. They are children whose natural right to be with the family has been taken away by their own parents.This book is a documentation of these children’s experience at a summer camp. It is a visual journey through their daily life activities that reveals an intimate relationship between children and environment they live in.TRANSCRIPT
Ekaterina Demidova STRAWBERRY FIELDS
London, 2009
Ekaterina Demidova STRAWBERRY FIELDS
4
5
The l i fe of these ch i ldren d idn’ t turn out the way they
wanted i t to. They a l l l i ve at Chi ldren’s Home in Obid imo,
Russ ia. Most of them fa l l in to a category of socia l orphans ,
ch i ldren who have been abandoned by the i r parents or
whose parents have lost the i r parenta l r ights. Many don’ t
have any re lat ives they know of. They are ch i ldren whose
natura l r ight to be wi th the fami ly has been taken away
by the i r own parents. In many cases l i v ing condi t ions
at ch i ldren’s homes are far bet ter than at the i r parents ’
houses. However, not many of them wi l l be able to socia l ize
af ter l i v ing in such an iso lated env i ronment. The fee l ing of
so l i tude and f rust rat ion that they carr y is hard to bear. They
are no one’s ch i ldren and yet they have the st rongest wi l l
to surv ive in modern society.
Th is book is a documentat ion o f these ch i ld ren ’s exper ience
at a summer camp. I t i s a v isua l journey th rough the i r da i l y
l i fe act i v i t ies that revea ls an in t imate re la t ionsh ip between
ch i ld ren and env i ronment they l i ve in .
6
7
* ch i ld ren par t ic ipated in the pro ject
A lexander Soko ln ikov
Timur To la rdava
N ik i ta Demidov
Mar ia Antonenkova
I l yas Yakubov
D iego Fer ra r i
Dan ie la S i l va
Mar ia Vare la
Stamatou la Vou lgar i
Joseph Dr isco l l
Debb ie Cast ro
Cami la Pere i ra
Tanya
Nastya
Sveta
Va lya
L iuda
Tanya Y.
D iana
Zhanna
Sasha
Vanya
Ser iozha
Dima
Sasha T.
Anton
Va le ra
Thanks to all who helped to make this project possible:
*
8
9
Ch i ld w i th a ch i ld pre tend ing
Weary o f l ies you ’ re send ing home
So you s ign a l l the papers in the fami l y name
You’ re sad and you ’ re sor r y, but youre not ashamed
L i t t le green, have a happy end ing. . .
f rom a song L i t t le green
by Jon i M i tche l l
10
11
to my parents
12
16
Va lya
17
dr y ing c lo thes
18
a handmade vase
19
camp lane
21
22
24
Sasha s leep ing
25
socks
26
on the way to the f ie ld
27
g i r ls ’ bedroom
28
32
Anton
33
a s i len t hour
34
L iuda and Vanya
35
boys p lay ing
36
39
40
outs ide the canteen
41
a f rog
42
footba l l
43
outs ide the k i tchen
44
a lavator y
45
a f te r a shower
46
48
50
ser v ing d inner
51
in the morn ing
52
break fast
53
a mole
54
57
58
h id ing
59
a quar re l
60
wash ing c lo thes
61
launderet te
63
6464
66
Nastya
67
a c lean ing day
68
69
70
71
72
74
76
a shower
77
Ser iozha w i th f lowers
78
79
80
81
84
© 2009 for photographs and texts: Ekater ina Demidova
Al l r ights reserved. No par t o f th is book may bereproduced wi thout the wr i t ten permiss ion of the ar t is t .
85
Ekaterina Demidova
Born in 1983, Moscow, Russia.
Currently lives and works in London, UK.
Growing up in an artistic environment encouraged her to
engage with art and photography since a young age.
Ekaterina moved to London in 2005 after completing her
degree in linguistics at Moscow University of Foreign
Languages. She took a postgraduate degree in Fine Art
from Byam Shaw School of Art /University of the Arts
London/ where she explored various forms of art such as
performance and installation. However, photography
remained her main field of interest. Being interested
in documentary photography and photojournalism she
continued her journey at the University of Westminster
undertaking a masters degree in photojournalism.
Ekaterina’s works are for the most part based on issues
related to social aspects such as youth, ageing, and
cultural identity.
www.welikephotography.com
86
87
OBiDiMO special (rehabilitation) Orphanage-School for orphans
and children without parental care.
Address: Ulitsa Sovetskaya 2a,
Obidimo, Leninski district, Tula region.
Telephone: 8-4867-9-01-00
Director: Tolardava Timur Nodarovich
www.detinashi.ru
88