Holy Water

Village is proud to present our second publishing project with Yorkshire-based photographer Christopher Nunn. ‘Holy Water’ is a collection of photographs taken in Ukraine, a country that has in recent years been thrust suddenly and violently into our global consciousness.

Recent media coverage of Ukraine has focused on the ongoing armed conflict and political chaos that has marred the country over the last two years. In ‘Holy Water’, Christopher Nunn takes a quieter look at the periphery of these events in a collection of photographs exploring everyday life, ordinary domestic moments and chance meetings against a backdrop of political turmoil and instability. Themes of escapism, alcohol, friendships and religious iconography permeate the photographs throughout the book.

Christopher began working in Ukraine in February 2013 while visiting Kalush, the birthplace of his late grandmother. With this as a geographical starting point, Christopher began to explore other regions, finding himself by chance in the east of Ukraine at the very start of the ongoing war. As the situation escalated, he became increasingly inspired by his grandmother’s early life as a person displaced by conflict.

Over repeated trips, and with a focus on Ukraine’s fragile east, the project has developed into a substantial, nuanced body of work. Without attempting to make a straight document or description of Ukraine’s current situation, Christopher’s work is a personal journey, shaped by the people he has met and driven by curiosity and a desire to better understand the human condition and psyche of this epoch.

‘Holy Water’ is part of an on going project. The photographs collected here are fragments of a much larger picture, one that is constantly changing and evolving. The publication serves not as a full stop, but as a parenthesis - a moment of reflection - before continuing on with the story.

Includes text extract by Larry Frolick

Design by Mark Starbuck
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