Old Khata Book. Photo Book on Houses and People

OLD KHATA BOOK is a photo book about houses and people. Between 2020 and 2023, photographer Anna Ilchenko and journalist Svitlana Oslavska traveled across nearly one hundred villages in Ukraine, spanning from the regions of Zakarpattia to Luhansk and from Chernihiv to Kherson. Due to the full-scale invasion, some of those villages are now under Russian occupation. The book includes selected photos and interview fragments conducted during three years of expeditions.

It is not an encyclopedia of architectural styles, although readers will notice the assorted traditions of house construction in different regions. The book documents a vanishing layer of Ukrainian culture eroded by time and war. It is a documentary essay at the intersection of photography and literature, blending reportage and visual storytelling. While speaking with homeowners, the authors often began with questions about their dwellings, but the conversations evolved into monologues about life.

Therefore, this book goes beyond the scope of architecture and ethnography, delving into broader topics such as how Ukrainians perceive home, beauty, life, and death. It does not exhaust this subject but invites further exploration.

English translations of the texts can be found at the end of the book.

Anna Ilchenko is a Ukrainian documentary photographer, videographer, and documentary filmmaker. Her works have been published in the following media: Marie Claire Italy, Bird in Flight, The Ukrainians, Suspilne, Hyper&Hyper, OpenDemocracy, LB.ua, Focus, Radio Liberty, Ukrainska Pravda, Texty.org.ua, Hromadske, Reporters, etc.

Svitlana Oslavska is a Ukrainian reporter and writer. Her work has been featured in Ukrayinska Pravda, Hromadske, The Ukrainians, Reporters, Zaborona, OpenDemocracy, New Eastern Europe, and TIME. Svitlana is the author of two reportage books. Since 2022, she has worked with The Reckoning Project to document Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine.