Dmitry Markov Gallery – Not a Childhood

Children from orphanages and psycho-neurological boarding schools are not just heroes of stories for Dmitry Markov, a young photographer, journalist and volunteer for the Pskov regional public charity organization “Rostok. Helping and caring for children and teenagers had become the meaning of his life.

Photo: Dmitry MARKOV.

Senior Group on the Preschool Playground.

Kirov region, Sovetsk, 2007.

Recently, the Center for Documentary Photography “FOTODOC,” set up at the A.A. Shostakovich Museum and Community Center, was a center for documentary photography. d. The Sakharov Orphanage in New York hosted an exhibition of his works, “Bator” the Orphanage in Chinese slang , dedicated to those whose childhood was deprived of parental attention and affection. A year ago, his multimedia project on the same theme captured the attention of many viewers at Krasny Oktyabr. We asked Dmitry to answer a few questions.

– Dima, what does photography mean to you??

– I think photography is one of the best tools for informing society about social issues. For me personally, it’s a kind of therapy. I can’t say that my photos are very documentary and truthful. I shoot something good, but not something bad or something I don’t like. In the end, my photographs are my idea of life, and maybe I idealized it a little bit.

– You said you were taking pictures of childhood. And why exactly in orphanages and psychoneurological boarding schools??

– At first I was filming it as a social phenomenon. But there aren’t as many stories in an orphanage as you might think. And sooner or later they run out. I’m referring to the ones that make it perfectly clear that they are an orphanage like when the kids are standing in line to be served in the cafeteria . And at some point I realized that I had already filmed everything and went in a circle. The institutions are different, but everywhere the same: the same corridors, the same beds… It became unbearable. I began to see that there are similar children, some typical orphanage faces. And he realized he had to show something else.

I was deeply impressed by the children themselves and some of their states, essentially, just childhood. I was impressed by their ability not to despair and not to get depressed, by their ability not to become embittered and to preserve their humanity under any circumstances.

We understand that the orphanage is not the right place. The children live there. He’s their reality that they accept and somehow rejoice in in their own way. That’s what got me. Something in me resonated at moments like these, and I was capturing it.

– The photographer’s social responsibility – what do you think it’s about??

– It seems to me to be a willingness to do things that don’t bring money or any material benefits, but are necessary simply because we’re all human. For me this is a very abstract term. I hesitate to say that I am socially responsible. Then I guess you could say I’m too socially responsible. Of course you can’t encourage anyone to do what I do. I just like it. I found myself doing it.

– Do you think that if a situation happens in front of a photographer, for example when a person is violent to another person, does he have the right to shoot or should he stop and help??

– I think that everything depends solely on the moral qualities of the person holding a camera. It would never occur to me to pull out my camera in these situations. I usually try to stop it somehow. Although I don’t deny the point of view that this moment should be recorded and shown to somebody. When working with children I have often seen scenes where children hit each other, humiliate each other. Well, I stepped in once, the second, third time, stopped the abusers, and then the kid got even more when I wasn’t there..

– So it’s better not to stand up for anyone at the orphanage?

– It’s necessary to intervene. And I always do it – just to stop the act of aggression. Of course, then we have to figure it out. Maybe the kid had been stealing every day for six months, they finally caught him and now they’re getting even. But the very processes of violence have to be stopped. Although it doesn’t guarantee that they’ll disappear altogether. This phenomenon cannot be eradicated by our noble impulses. And maybe if this is photographed and made known to the viewers, then someone at the top of their consciousness will change and something will happen.

I’m not ready to say which point of view is more important or correct. The first thing that struck me when I came to the PNI psycho-neurological boarding school was that a child who can read is around children with various disabilities who can’t do basic things. A child from a regular orphanage ended up in a NRI for bad behavior. You realize that in a couple of years spent there, he’ll get close to someone who just swings from side to side. It shook me a lot and I went to get these kids out of there. Now these kids are more or less settled, but in general the situation hasn’t changed. And a photographer alone is not enough here. Let’s say he takes it off. And then what will he do with the pictures?? Everything can be interpreted in its own way, wrongly. And people have seen so much that they’re immune. It’s important to understand what to do with the footage, how to take it to people, who to show and what to tell.

– Are there any peculiarities of taking pictures in orphanages and psycho-neurological boarding schools?

– Children in orphanages are neglected. So often they see anyone who comes into the orphanage as a source of personal, single-minded attention. That’s the difference between taking pictures in an orphanage and in a kindergarten. The kids are at home, they have parents, and they see the photographer as a photographer. At the orphanage, they want to think of the photographer as a friend. And you have to keep in mind that these are kids who were once abandoned, who “merge” by institution. So any contact with them imposes a certain responsibility on the person making it. You have to be responsible, you have to keep your word. If you promise to give a kid a picture, you have to bring it. In principle, nothing will change in his worldview if he is cheated one more time, but you should try not to do it anyway.

It’s also important to remember that for us it’s an institution and for them it’s their only place to live. That’s why you have to be very delicate not to offend. Imagine coming to your house and taking pictures while you’re eating or brushing your teeth. I don’t think you will like it. It’s the same situation for them, so you have to be very tactful.

– What are the main difficulties of taking pictures in orphanages and psycho-neurological boarding schools??

– I have a hard time getting the first shot. Get the camera out and start taking pictures. Actually, that’s the difficulty. You have to control your behavior, think about what you say to these kids. You have to keep some kind of faithful contact with them, and you have to take pictures as well. It’s not easy.

– What does “right contact” mean and how do you find it??

– First of all, you have to pay some attention to the children, and not just come to make a card. However, too much attention is not recommended unless you are going to work there or visit them regularly , because children can interpret it in their own way. For example, you developed a friendship and now you’re going to go all the time, and the kids might have the idea that you’re going to take them away from there. It’s hard to keep in contact with the kids and be at a certain distance at the same time.

– Don’t you think that taking pictures of children in orphanages might interfere with the secrecy of the adoption?

– I don’t photograph young children. Most of the pictures on display are the ones I took when I was just starting to go and shoot everything and for everyone.

I don’t think you should take pictures in orphanages just for the sake of taking pictures. And don’t put the cards out in the public.

– Dima, you have pictures of kids who smoke. It would not be more correct to take away their cigarettes instead of filming them?

– I can’t say that I thought about these things at the time. I agree, smoking needs to be curbed somehow. Although there are so many problems with these kids out there, I don’t see the smoking issue as the worst.

I don’t think you should take on the function of a caretaker on one-time trips. It’s better to just talk to them. Well, he smokes and smokes

I’m not going to say that everything I did back then was right. But the kids there did a lot of things that I didn’t film, but next to which smoking pales next to.

– What’s the purpose of your exhibition?? Attracting sponsors?

– Not just the sponsors. I think it is necessary to raise this issue in principle. Children should not be placed in small “concentration camps” but in families. For example, in China there are no orphanages for normal children – only institutions for children with various disabilities. Everyone else lives with their families.

And I wish I could get more people to come and work with the kids. Clearly, there are only two out of a hundred. And this means that all is not so hopeless… We are not many, but we are organized on the level of inner convictions, faith in the resource of individuals and civil society as a whole.

First day of life in Fedkovo children’s village. There’s no running water yet, and the kids wash their hands with water from the well.

Fedkovo village, Pskov region, June 2009.

A kid from a large family attending a boarding school in the morning.

Pechory, Pskov region, 2008.

Zhenya, one of the children living in Fedkovo Children’s Village, a charity project of NGO “Rostok”, is swinging in a hammock.

Pskov region, Fedkovo village, September 2009.

Sergei is drying clothes in the yard of Fedkovo village.

Fedkovo village, Pskov region, June 2009.

Misha, a graduate of a boarding school for mentally retarded children, pouring water on Yegor, a boy from a speech-impaired boarding school who comes to Fedkovo for the weekend.

Fedkovo village, Pskov region, November 2010.

The older kids, Sasha and Misha, “play” with Vanya, the youngest one.

The village of Belskoye Ustye, Pskov region, August 2007.