Oleg Kolimbet

Oleg Kolimbet’s photobook “Father Son Father” is a reflection on the nature of fatherhood, time and the endless cycle of succession. At the center of the book is the confession of a father who, driven by anxiety for the fate of his son, goes through a kind of spiritual apocalypse. The images illustrate fear for a loved one, but also become a metaphor of anxiety for the future generation, vulnerable to changes that can no longer be ignored.

On the pages of the book, past and present coexist: archival and contemporary photographs are intertwined, connecting and juxtaposing different temporal contexts. Through interaction of images reflecting both moments of togetherness and loneliness, the author hints at the fragility of their relationship. He also addresses the topic of social expectations and cultural overlaps that shape the archetypes of male identity, showing how in complex realities of life one can lose touch with oneself.

The author builds the story through allusions to religious texts and myths: images of destruction are replaced by symbols of redemption, scenes of emptiness by glimpses of light. Personal experience acquires universal meaning.

The photobook raises the question of what it means to be a father and what it means to be a son. Without the father, the son cannot find his identity, but the father, having lost his son, is also deprived of his raison d’.tre. Is it possible to escape loss, or is memory the only way to keep each other alive?

The book leaves a sense of unsettling uncertainty. It doesn’t answer whether the son is saved or whether the fear is overcome, but perhaps that is its point. As in life, so in these images, the line between loss and gain is blurred.

Kristina Sergeeva