Jenya, Ukraine, 2015 © Michal Chelbin

Young Cadets, Ukraine, 2015 © Michal Chelbin

 Michal Chelbin is an Israeli photographer whose work has been widely shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions worldwide. 

These two photographs of students in military boarding schools and teenagers in Ukraine are from the series, How to Dance the Waltz, published by Damiani in 2021, collectively the work was taken over the last five years during which Chelbin traveled through Eastern Europe. 

Last spring of the series Joseph Akel wrote, “this tension is at the heart of Chelbin’s photographs gives them a deep power” an eerily ironic “connection between the use of dress codes and uniforms to shape identity and instill traditional roles in boys and girls” that resonates today, albeit with profound sadness through a different lens today. 

Images courtesy of Michal Chelbin. For more information visit the artist’s website.