Anastasia Taylor-Lind: Fighters and mourners of the Ukrainian revolution

Prevodilac: Mile Živković Lektor: Anja Saric

When I arrived in Kiev,

Kada sam stigla u Kijev,

on February 1 this year,

1. februara ove godine,

Independence Square was under siege,

Trg Nezavisnosti je bio pod opsadom,

surrounded by police loyal to the government.

okružen policijom koja je bila lojalna vladi.

The protesters who occupied Maidan,

Protestanti koji su okupirali Majdan,

as the square is known,

kako se trg naziva,

prepared for battle,

bili su spremni za bitku,

stockpiling homemade weapons

opskrbili su se ručno pravljenim oružjem

and mass-producing improvised body armor.

i na veliko su pravili improvizovan oklop za telo.

The Euromaidan protests began peacefully at the end of 2013,

Evromajdanski protesti su mirno počeli krajem 2013. godine,

after the president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych,

nakon što je ukrajinski predsednik, Viktor Janukovič,

rejected a far-reaching accord with the European Union

odbio dalekosežni dogovor sa Evropskom unijom

in favor of stronger ties with Russia.

u korist jače povezanosti s Rusijom.

In response, tens of thousands of dissatisfied citizens

Zauzvrat, desetine hiljada nezadovoljnih građana

poured into central Kiev to demonstrate against this allegiance.

slilo se u centar Kijeva da bi demonstrirali protiv ovog saveza.

As the months passed,

Kako su prolazili meseci,

confrontations between police and civilians intensified.

sukobi između policije i civila su se pojačali.

I set up a makeshift portrait studio by the barricades on Hrushevsky Street.

Napravila sam

improvizovani studio za portrete kod barikada u ulici Hruševski.

There, I photographed the fighters against a black curtain,

Tu sam fotografisala borce ispred crne zavese,

a curtain that obscured the highly seductive and visual backdrop

zavese koja je zaklanjala veoma zavodljivu i živu pozadinu

of fire, ice and smoke.

sačinjenu od vatre, leda i dima.

In order to tell the individual human stories here,

Kako bih ovde ispričala pojedinačne ljudske priče,

I felt that I needed to remove the dramatic visuals

mislila sam da sam morala da uklonim dramatične efekte

that had become so familiar and repetitive within the mainstream media.

koji su postali toliko poznati i stalni u mejnstrim medijima.

What I was witnessing was not only news, but also history.

Bila sam svedok ne samo vesti, već i istorije.

With this realization,

Kada sam ovo shvatila,

I was free from the photojournalistic conventions

oslobodila sam se konvencija novinskih fotoreportera

of the newspaper and the magazine.

koje nameću novine i časopisi.

Oleg, Vasiliy and Maxim were all ordinary men,

Oleg, Vasilij i Maksim su bili obični ljudi,

with ordinary lives from ordinary towns.

sa običnim životima, iz običnih gradova.

But the elaborate costumes that they had bedecked themselves in

Ali detaljni kostimi u kojima su se našli

were quite extraordinary.

su bili sasvim neobični.

I say the word "costume"

Kažem "kostimi"

because these were not clothes that had been issued

jer to nije bila odeća koju je bilo ko propisao

or coordinated by anyone.

ili koordinirao.

They were improvised uniforms

To su bile improvizovane uniforme

made up of decommissioned military equipment,

od rashodovane vojne opreme,

irregular combat fatigues and trophies taken from the police.

nepravilne vojne uniforme i trofeji uzeti od policije.

I became interested in the way they were choosing to represent themselves,

Zainteresovala sam se za način na koji su odabrali da se predstavljaju,

this outward expression of masculinity,

za ovaj spoljašnji izražaj muževnosti,

the ideal of the warrior.

ideal ratnika.

I worked slowly, using an analog film camera

Radila sam polako, uz pomoć analognog fotoaparata

with a manual focusing loop and a handheld light meter.

uz ručno podešavanje fokusa i ručni svetlomer.

The process is old-fashioned.

Proces je staromodan.

It gives me time to speak with each person

Daje mi vremena da pričam sa svakom osobom

and to look at them, in silence, while they look back at me.

i da ih u tišini gledam dok oni gledaju u mene.

Rising tensions culminated in the worst day of violence

Rastuće tenzije dostigle su vrhunac na najgori dan nasilja,

on February 20,

20. februara,

which became known as Bloody Thursday.

koji je postao poznat kao Krvavi četvrtak.

Snipers, loyal to the government,

Snajperisti lojalni vladi

started firing on the civilians and protesters on Institutskaya Street.

počeli su da pucaju na civile i protestante na ulici Instituskaja.

Many were killed in a very short space of time.

Mnogo ljudi je ubijeno za veoma malo vremena.

The reception of the Hotel Ukraine became a makeshift morgue.

Recepcija hotela Ukrajina postala je improvizovana mrtvačnica.

There were lines of bodies laid in the street.

Na ulicama su ležala poređana tela.

And there was blood all over the pavements.

Krv je bila svuda po pločnicima.

The following day, President Yanukovych fled Ukraine.

Sledećeg dana, predsednik Janukovič pobegao je iz Ukrajine.

In all, three months of protests

Na kraju, tri meseca protesta

resulted in more than 120 confirmed dead

za posledicu su imala više od 120 potvrđenih smrti

and many more missing.

i mnogo više nestalih.

History unfolded quickly,

Istorija se odvila brzo,

but celebration remained elusive in Maidan.

ali na Majdanu se nije slavilo.

As the days passed in Kiev's central square,

Kako su prolazili dani na centralnom trgu Kijeva,

streams of armed fighters

bujici naoružanih vojnika

were joined by tens of thousands of ordinary people,

pridružile su se destine hiljada običnih ljudi,

filling the streets in an act of collective mourning.

koji su se širili ulicama u činu zajedničkog žaljenja.

Many were women who often carried flowers

Bilo je puno žena, često sa cvećem

that they had brought to lay as marks of respect for the dead.

koje su donele da obeleže poštovanje za mrtve.

They came day after day

Dolazile su dan za danom

and they covered the square with millions of flowers.

i pokrile su trg milionima cvetova.

Sadness enveloped Maidan.

Tuga je obavila Majdan.

It was quiet and I could hear the birds singing.

Bilo je tiho i mogli ste čuti ptice kako pevaju.

I hadn't heard that before.

To nisam čula pre toga.

Zaustavljala sam žene dok su se približavale barikadama

I stopped women as they approached the barricades

to lay their tributes

da odaju počast

and asked to make their picture.

i tražila sam da ih slikam.

Most women cried when I photographed them.

Većina njih je plakala kada sam ih slikala.

On the first day, my fixer, Emine, and I cried

Prvog dana, moja asistentkinja Emine i ja smo plakale

with almost every woman who visited our studio.

sa skoro svakom ženom koja je posetila naš studio.

There had been such a noticeable absence of women

Do tog trenutka se osećalo

up until that point.

neverovatno odsustvo žena.

And the color of their pastel coats,

Boje njihovih pastelnih kaputa,

their shiny handbags,

njihove šljašteće torbe

and the bunches of red carnations,

i hrpe crvenih karanfila,

white tulips and yellow roses that they carried

belih lala i žutih ruža koje su nosile

jarred with the blackened square

nasuprot pocrnelog trga

and the blackened men who were encamped there.

i pocrnelih ljudi koji su se samo utaborili.

It is clear to me that these two sets of pictures

Jasno mi je da ove dve serije fotografija

don't make much sense without the other.

nemaju puno smisla jedna bez druge.

They are about men and women and the way we are --

One se tiču muškaraca i žena i toga kakvi smo -

not the way we look, but the way we are.

ne kako izgledamo, već kakvi smo.

They speak about different gender roles in conflict,

Govore o različitim ulogama polova u konfliktu,

not only in Maidan, and not only in Ukraine.

ne samo na Majdanu, i ne samo u Ukrajini.

Men fight most wars and women mourn them.

Muškarci se bore u ratovima, a žene ratove oplakuju.

If the men showed the ideal of the warrior,

Ako bi muškarci prikazali ideal ratnika,

then the women showed the implications of such violence.

onda bi žene prikazale posledice takvog nasilja.

When I made these pictures,

Kada sam stvorila ove slike,

I believed that I was documenting the end of violent events in Ukraine.

verovala sam da dokumentujem kraj nasilnih dešavanja u Ukrajini.

But now I understand that it is a record of the beginning.

Ali sada shvatam da je to zapis početka.

Today, the death toll stands around 3,000,

Broj žrtava je danas oko 3 000,

while hundreds of thousands have been displaced.

dok je raseljeno stotine hiljada ljudi.

I was in Ukraine again six weeks ago.

Bila sam ponovo u Ukrajini pre šest nedelja.

In Maidan, the barricades have been dismantled,

Na Majdanu, barikade su rasklopljene,

and the paving stones which were used as weapons during the protests replaced,

a kaldrma koju su koristili kao oružje tokom protesta je zamenjena,

so that traffic flows freely through the center of the square.

tako da saobraćaj slobodno teče kroz centar trga.

The fighters, the women and the flowers are gone.

Borci, žene i cveće su nestali.

A huge billboard depicting geese flying over a wheat field

Veliki pano sa guskama koje lete nad poljem pšenice

covers the burned-out shell of the trade union's building

prekriva spaljenu ljušturu zgrade radničkog sindikata

and proclaims,

i na njemu piše:

"Glory to Ukraine.

"Slava Ukrajini.

Glory to heroes."

Slava herojima."

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause).

(Aplauz)