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With the current Russo-Ukrainian war, Kyiv-based architecture and interior photographer Sergiy Kadulin has experienced a halt in the publishing of his newest work. Wonderful Machine caught up with him in a recent article, “How to Support Photographers in Ukraine,” but wanted to continue the conversation with a focus on what he calls “a living story.”
Up until now, Sergiy has been photographing Shkrub House, the home and creation of famous Ukrainian architect, Sergey Makhno. The images capture the structure and its surroundings through the progression of time, following the light throughout the day and across seasons. This commissioned work was used to enter Shkrub House in competitions, winning awards such as Art Space’s 2021 Interior Award for “Best Private House with Elements of Traditional Styles.”
The two first met in April of 2019, at the iSaloni trade fair, where Sergiy was shooting trade show booths for his international clients. When he approached Sergey Makhno, he was invited to photograph his booth as well. Not long after, Sergiy was commissioned by local furniture maker Stalkon, to photograph the interior of DTEK Academy (in Ukraine’s first innovation park, UNIT.City, in Kyiv) which was designed by the team at Sergey Makhno Architects. Once the marketing department saw the images, they reached out to solidify an ongoing relationship and collaboration with Sergiy. He spoke of his overall experience working with the architect:
Sergey is an open person, very creative, charismatic and business oriented. He is a great human, and managed to build a strong and diverse team. His management style is to give general idea of the project to motivate and inspire people, providing directional control. At the same time, he gives room to flourish. It was how we built our relationship in this and all future projects.
On the initial scouting visit, Makhno gave Sergiy a tour and shared with him the history of Shkrub House. The two had a preliminary discussion of what was expected for both interior and exterior images. Upon request, Makhno pulled photo albums from his library, providing Sergiy with examples of his preferred visual style.
The majority of them represented wabi-sabi and minimalism – two styles he likes the most while mixing traditional Ukrainian and Japanese cultures in the construction of his architectural and interior projects.
Sergiy allotted himself enough time to observe the home, the sounds of the structure, the overall ambiance, and aesthetic. “The goal was simple: to create images which will tell a story of the house.” The intent was to inspire in an evocative way that would lead to meaningful dialogue with potential customers around the world.
I also spent some time shooting his garden, which is also quite a masterpiece – full of ceramic art sculptures created by Sergey and other Ukrainian artists, hidden between trees and around a small lake. This garden is an integral part of his house’s surroundings and place where Sergey, his family, and his guests enjoy time together. As the sun and the moon travel in the sky, I made my plan.
The first photo shoot consisted of three days, eleven hours each. It was mid-august, and when he returned for an additional session in September, he was able to catch the light of the house over the course of twelve hours, as dusk waded in the distance.
Makhno’s attention to detail made it possible to photograph the interior as close to his vision as possible, but at the same time, I was able to incorporate my own creativity. We usually discussed every detail, looking at the iPad screen with three pairs of eyes–Sergey’s and the stylist. We were making necessary changes to the composition, moving furniture and decor items to achieve every shot as perfect as possible.
Among the team was interior designer Vlada Makhno, who is also Sergey Makhno’s wife. The name “Shkrub” started as an affectionate, made-up nickname the spouses called each other. To them, it represents love, respect, and patience. Vlada was an essential collaborator, always providing insight and ideas, taking the reins whenever Sergey was away.
After post production was completed for each photograph, Sergiy was invited back to Shkrub House to continue his work through different seasons. As changes were made to, or around the home, such as the installation of new art sculptures, or a fresh blanket of snow, Makhno invited Sergiy back with full accessibility, any number of days he needed. Sergiy noted it as “a privilege and big advantage” to be free of restrictions, which is rarely possible with interior assignments. He knew not to waste the opportunity.
The progression of time has always been an ever-present theme for Shkrub House. Sergiy embodied this throughout his process, varying the length of each shoot according to its place in the day, whether it was an hour and a half at sunrise, or four hours with the fall colors of the garden. He was at liberty to linger with the golden leaves or the icicles under the thatched roof in winter. Even through heavy showers, Sergiy continued documenting.
One of the definite technical challenges I’ve encountered was exterior shooting. In particular, [there was] a relatively short distance between the house facade and the fence with the main entrance, so I was forced to use tilt-shift TS-E 17mm lens, and take a panoramic shot. I remember it was not easy due to distance limitations. Another problem of the exterior shooting was the necessity to raise the camera from the ground terrain in order to shoot the back of the house. I used a special 8,6 meters high extended tripod, with the camera being controlled via CamRanger from the ground.
The effort was all worth it. The photograph, along with others in the series, was featured in Urdesign Magazine.
It was really challenging to control camera settings and provide clean lenses during [rainy] shoots. (thanks, Canon, for reliable all-weather hardware!)
One evening, while shooting the facade of Shkrub House at sunset, Sergiy paused to retrieve a lens from his backpack, which was in the yard. He could see the moon rising to the trees above the famous sculpture “Rain,” by Nazar Bilyk, at the rear of the house. Sergiy had less than two minutes to capture the moon before it disappeared. He ran to grab his tripod, returning to the yard to change the lens and set the camera with shaking hands.
[This proves] that even in architectural and interior photography, there is a ‘decisive moment.’
From an artistic perspective, Sergiy mentioned the difficulty in choosing the best angles to shoot a complex interior. Shkrub House is made of various colors, materials, and textures but it also holds paintings, sculptures, ceramics and other art pieces from all over the world. In the style of wabi-sabi, each piece plays a vital role in the atmosphere. And for photographing, they each carry the light through its different hues of the day. It was Sergiy’s reason to return to the same rooms, several times, “in order to catch this all-time-changing environment.”
This long acquaintance of myself with Shkrub house made it unique: never in my professional career have I spent so many hours with one place, giving me the opportunity to see it not only in ’static’ during a photoshoot day, but to look at it in its life, when subtle changes open up new feelings and bring new creative ideas.
I won’t exaggerate if I say that [Sergey Makhno] was the most demanding and detail-oriented among all my customers. It definitely increased my mastery as an interior photographer, and my skills also have [increased] (especially at the intensive post-processing stage). Thanks to Sergey, my photographs appeared in many local and international print and online interior magazines. His projects with my photographs have won many prestigious competitions and awards, and got recognition and visibility from colleagues, partners and customers. I am really thankful.
Sergiy values the long-lasting relationships he maintains with clients. In addition to Skrub House, Sergiy was also commissioned by Makhno to photograph twelve of his other projects, both residential and commercial, including exteriors, interiors, and still-life product images of furniture and art ceramics.
Unfortunately, our cooperation has been interrupted by the war which Russia started against Ukraine in February 2022. I hope that after our victory this cooperation will continue and the world will discover many new exciting projects from Sergey Makhno.
See more of Sergiy Kadulin’s work on his Instagram.
Credits
Stylists: Sergey Makhno, Vlada Makhno
Assistants: Katerina Melnikova
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