Customer Reviews

Simply Ukraine

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D'Avignon's lens brings the Ukraine into a kind-hearted soft focus with a wide variety of subjects and seasons. People and nature, landscapes and cities, pastoral scenes and religious heritage are all seamlessly and brilliantly brought together in one elegant volume. All of the photographs are at least excellent in quality, and I thought a few not only "simply Ukraine," but outstanding. Among my favorites are: the Pechersja Lavra Monastery in Kyiv showcasing its exquisite cluster of softly-gilt and beveled domes; a fence line, a few barren trees, and a haystack floating in an invisible winter snow; a happy young lad bounding through the grass (could be anywhere, but he's in Kyiv); presumably a mother and daughter, Halia Sulyma and Ksenia, joyfully bounding through the grass near Chernihiv (there is quite a bit of happy "bounding through the grass" in this volume, a bright reflection of the natural side of the Ukrainian spirit). And if the readers may not find these few mentioned suited to their individual tastes, then other photographs included surely will be. Published in Kyiv with bilingual text in Ukrainian and English, this volume is more than just a pictorial essay of the Ukraine -- it has the power to permanently bond the English-speaking world with this unique and remarkable land, a diplomatic bridge worth crossing.

If you'd like to journey through a prism of pastels and pastorals to visit a mystical land that beckons, then `Simply Ukraine' will transport you there within its 192 pages; if you'd like to learn about Ukraine and her people, then `Simply Ukraine' will not only reveal her heart, soul, and countenance, but will make you yearn to experience firsthand Ukraine's charms and beauty.

Once you pick up `Simply Ukraine,' you won't want to be interrupted, as you turn each page and are mesmerized by ensuing explorations into Ukraine's many faceted cultural heritage. You'll let TiVo and voice mail take over, as you become immersed in the art of photography at its finest.

Tania D'Avignon is an artist of photography who is a Ukrainian-American of Ukrainian birth. For over thirty years, she's worked on creating a photographic album of her Ukraine. The photos in `Simply Ukraine' span the years from 1964 through 1997, displaying in the process depth-of-field and color visualizations that portray the essence of Ukrainian life through mood, color, and imagery--and, she does it so artfully and aptly, that the viewer is only aware of the end product--beauty personified in the panoramas of landscapes, the faces of people, the expressions of animals, the display of exquisite folk costumes, and the observation of nature as only God can showcase it.

Using her camera as a paintbrush, she captures colors on canvas with a palette of pigments and pixels--the ingredients depict Ukraine, her people, her landscape, and her animal husbandry--lenses, f-stops, compositions, and subject matter are the utensils she uses to prepare a feast of food for your soul and spirit.

Some of the sundry subjects that you'll encounter along the pathways of Ms. D'Avignon's photo essays include: a sunflower glancing over a wooden braided fence; a bucket amidst the dandelions sharing a hilltop with a child and adult overlooking Vydubytskyi Monastery in Kyiv; a kitty sleepily peeking at you from between two buckets; a mother and daughter traversing through the tall grasses of the Chernihiv region in their embroidered blouses; thatch-roofed houses with their omnipresent flowers and wooden fences that so often depict Ukraine in bygone years; a close-up of a boy holding a goat kid; portraits of children and adults in costumes in various regions of Ukraine; Carpathian wildflowers; serene, surreal scenes at twilight; storks nesting; gold cupolas reflecting the sun's rays in the Kyiv sky; silver cupolas in Pidlyssia, Lviv region; faces etched with the wrinkles of experience in the Rakhiv district, Poltava region, and Cherkasy region; and, many more delicious entrées of etchings portraying Ukrainian life.

Each photo is dated and detailed with captions in Ukrainian and in English. Most photos are displayed singly; a few share space as duos. The photos are professionally taken with an artistic eye artfully leading you to enjoy Ukraine and her inhabitants as only natives experience her.

Throughout the photo album are accolades from Ukrainian journalists, singers, film directors, art critics, photographers, stage directors, and fans--the creative souls of Ukraine recognizing another creative talent! Among the songs of praise are the words of Yaroslav Koval to Ms. D'Avignon as he tells her that he is one of the oldest photographers in Halychyna. He, along with J. Dorosh and Ms. Navrotska, founded the Ukrainian Photography Club, Ufoto, in 1929. Ufoto published its own magazine, `Light and Shadow.' He assures Ms. D'Avignon that their works are very similar in content, although her's are contemporary and his are of yesteryear. Mr. Koval tells her that, after sixty years, it pleases him to see in her a full-fledged continuation of Ukrainian photography.

And, art critic, Liubart Lishchynskyi, makes reference to the cover photo of `Simply Ukraine' by saying that the stork on the cover of her book is the very symbol of Ukraine's hope. In Western Ukraine, a stork is called a buziok, is associated with the start of a new family in a new home, and you are considered lucky if you see one. In Ukraine, the stork is considered the Messenger of Spring, since it is one of the first birds to return to Ukraine after wintering elsewhere.

Many seasons ago, (after viewing several of my videos on Ukraine), a friend asked, "how can I become a Ukrainian?" After perusing photos in this photo album, I can envision many others asking that same question. My many thanks, Ms. Mychajlyshyn-D'Avignon for sharing some of your life experiences so generously; I do hope I'll encounter many more of your inspiring photo albums in the years ahead!

By all means, `Simply Ukraine' is a must see/must own photo album. If your library doesn't own a copy, get it through interlibrary loan; better yet, purchase it, enjoy it, and hand it down through the generations. This is truly a record of Ukraine and her inhabitants in artistic rendition. A definite five stars, plus!

Addendum: Readers, you're invited to visit each of my reviews--most of them have photos that I took in Ukraine (over 600)--you'll learn lots about Ukraine and Ukrainians. The image gallery shows smaller photos, which are out of sequence. The preferable way is to see each review through my profile page since photos that are germane to that particular book/VHS/DVD are posted there with notes and are in sequential order.

To visit my reviews: click on my pseudonym, Mandrivnyk, to get to my profile page; click on the tab called review; scroll to the bottom of the section, and click on see all reviews; click on each title, and on the left-hand side, click on see all images. The thumbnail images at the top of the page show whether photos have notes; roll your mouse over the image to find notes posted.

Also, you're invited to visit my Listmania lists, which have materials sorted by subject matter.