Reciprocity
by Lena Kholkina & Olga Alexeyenko
self-published in 2017
limited leporello edition of 30 copies
15x20cm, in hardcover folder

COST - 100 euros + postage (цена в рублях - 5000 руб)

To order/inquire/comment please email at eholkina@gmail.com

Through the metaphor of 'home' and our mutual interest in relations between man and space, we shared an artistic task working together for two years, shooting from two different perspectives but collaborating and growing our mutual trust, changing the relationships from an acquaintance to a friend. After two years of a live process the book became about building and growing concepts and objects, which is a very human task.

ARTIST STATEMENT:
Reciprocity is a two-year experiment of two photographers – Elena Kholkina and Olga Alexeyenko, who represent two different artistic views and work together for the first time. Olga is an architectural photographer, Elena shoots personal documentary and self-portraits.

The starting point of the project is the concept of "home" that came in as common ground. In nature men never feel at home – we build shelters everywhere we go. Can we be comfortable in any space that has walls and a ceiling? Is there reciprocity in the relations of people and walls they build? Is decaying a necessary fact of life or a sign of neglect? Can we oppose owing to belonging, homelessness to freedom, comfort to imprisonment? Are boundaries and limitations also possibilities? The project consists of a large amount of images shot together in 2013-2015: Olga took portraits of the places, and Elena shot self-portraits with "home"-related objects.

As the project evolves, the authors elaborate the concept of collaboration through personal correspondence in social networks, registering how artists from different backgrounds can work together, compromising between own interests\habits and shared experiences, how reciprocity grows along the process. Communication between people and spaces they create and are responsible for, as well as physical and personal boundaries, becomes the main focus.

The book exists in two variations – a leporello that brings two photographic views into one narrative, and a double book accentuating two separate artistic approaches (each is a limited edition of 30 handmade copies).

Interview on Reciprocity @ AROUND ART