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Finalist 2025, Oleksandr Suprun

Published 21 June 2025

Oleksandr Suprun. Photo : Valeriy Baitoldzhy, 1995, gelatin silver print, 30×40 cm. Courtesy of the Museum of the Kharkiv School of Photography (MOKSOP).

Biography

Born in 1945 in the village of Berezivka near Kharkiv in Ukraine where he lives today, Oleksandr Suprun is an artist of the first generation of the Kharkiv School of Photography. From 1962 to 1968, he studied at the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute and then received a PhD degree in process engineering. In 1967, Suprun joined a regional photo club. Together with Jury Rupin, Evgeniy Pavlov, Oleg Maliovany, Boris Mikhailov, Guennadiy Tubalev, Oleksandr Sitnichenko and Anatoliy Makienko, he participated in the Vremia [Time] group, founded in 1971.

Although almost all the photographers of the Kharkiv School of Photography experimented with collage for some time, for Oleksandr Suprun it was the preferred technique. His works differ from the photocollages that were being created internationally at the same time. In contrast to a surreal use of the technique, Suprun uses its possibilities to create a personal and poetic image of his familiar surroundings. Suprun grew up in a rural environment. This direct experience is also the subject of his collages, which depict the landscape and village life with its inhabitants.

In the Soviet Union, photographing people on the street was a bold act that could be interpreted as espionage and lead to arrest. Suprun thus hid his camera in a shopping bag and used a special device to photograph his surroundings. At first glance, many of his works appear to be ordinary photographs; only at second glance do they reveal a clever montage of photographic props, a true goldsmith’s work of precise cutting and montage.

His first solo exhibition was organized in 1973, after which the author participated in numerous contests and salons of the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP). Suprun was awarded with the distinction “Excellence FIAP” (EFIAP) in 1996. Since 1981 he has been the associate professor of the Kharkiv Art and Industry Institute (now the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts). His works have been acquired by the collections of the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and have been exhibited across Europe, notably at Hangar Photo Center (Belgium), the Kunstmuseum (Germany), the Centre Pompidou (France), and were shown at Photo London in 2022 and Art Basel in 2023. He is represented by the Alexandra de Viveiros Gallery.

https://www.alexandradeviveiros.com/

Portfolio

Oleksandr Suprun, Spring In Forest. Lilies of the Valley, 1975, gelatin silver print, collage, 40×30 cm. Courtesy of Galerie Alexandra De Viveiros.

Oleksandr Suprun, The Three, 1979, gelatin silver print, collage, 28.5×39 cm. Courtesy of Galerie Alexandra De Viveiros.

Oleksandr Suprun, Autumn. Sunflower, 1976, gelatin silver print, collage, 17.5×36 cm. Courtesy of the Museum of the Kharkiv School of Photography (MOKSOP).

Oleksandr Suprun, Urbanist’s Confession. Rush Hour, 1977, gelatin silver print, collage, 39.6×28.2 cm. Courtesy of the Museum of the Kharkiv School of Photography (MOKSOP).

Oleksandr Suprun, Gifts Of Autumn. King of the Market, 1975, gelatin silver print, collage, 30×40 cm. Courtesy of the Museum of the Kharkiv School of Photography (MOKSOP).

Oleksandr Suprun, Pegasus, 1974, gelatin silver print, collage, 15×35.6 cm. Courtesy of Galerie Alexandra De Viveiros.

Oleksandr Suprun, Sunflowers–ІІ, 1975, collage, gelatin silver print, 28×35 cm. Courtesy of Galerie Alexandra De Viveiros.

Oleksandr Suprun, Urbanist’s Confession. Dream, 1984, gelatin silver print, collage, 26×40 cm. Courtesy of the Museum of the Kharkiv School of Photography (MOKSOP).

Oleksandr Suprun, Shepherd, 1975, gelatin silver print, collage, 30×40 cm. Courtesy of the Museum of the Kharkiv School of Photography (MOKSOP).

Oleksandr Suprun, Eggs, 1986, gelatin silver print, collage, 24×33.5 cm. Courtesy of Galerie Alexandra De Viveiros.

Oleksandr Suprun, Encounter, 1979/1997, gelatin silver print, collage, 37.8×25.3 cm. Courtesy of the Museum of the Kharkiv School of Photography (MOKSOP).

Oleksandr Suprun, Chamomile Bouquet, 1973, gelatin silver print, mask, 30×40 cm. Courtesy of Galerie Alexandra De Viveiros.
Oleksandr Suprun, Little Girl and Ballons, 1987, gelatin silver print, collage, 40.3×26.3 cm. Courtesy of the Museum of the Kharkiv School of Photography (MOKSOP).

Categories:Finalist Prize 2025

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