Oleg Shchapov: All Roads Lead To Home

A Parallel Planets piece by Unknown

We have so many idioms and expressions about home and it's not at all surprising why. Home is where the heart is, where it all begins, where it all grows, where it all ends. In one of his compelling documentary series, Ukrainian film photographer Oleg Shchapov explores and captures what life is like en route to the end of the road through his grandmother's eyes.

She lives alone in her hometown of Benkivtsi Village in Western Ukraine, where she has lived all 81 years of her life. "Here, she was born, went to school, married, raised two daughters, played with her grandchildren, worked all her life in the fields, gained wisdom, became old, buried her husband 15 years ago," Oleg narrates on his website. With this, I easily understood his interest in documenting her daily life at present, and became intrigued with the idea of seeing what the last leg of her journey in life is like.

Flipping through the set, I get a picture of what it's like to live out one's twilight years simply and quietly, in a place that allows it to pace slowly and calmly. I also find it commendable how Oleg was able to introduce his grandmother as a resilient woman who has been living a long and fulfilled life. He also tells her story with the drama that can only come with black and white photography, showing how she is content with the simplicity of the town she has called home and never left, occasionally surrounded by family and still strong enough to carry out her daily tasks.

On his own rumination about his set, Oleg also said, "This all leads to reflections of the values ​​that we bring into our lives when we are young and values ​​to which we remain when life is coming to the end.  With every visit to my grandmother, I always get the impression that life has stopped many years ago." This led me to realize that his grandmother's story is most likely a contrast to how aging people in bigger, more populated cities go about through their last few decades or so. I'm sure that some of them, who have chosen a more active life in metropolises when they were younger, now want nothing but the quiet and solitude of their more laid-back hometowns.

As with Oleg's other photography work, All Roads Lead to Home provides an insightful peek at life in Ukraine, but I find that it's the personal touch that makes his story an engaging one for readers.

View the rest of Oleg Shchapov's impressive documentary work on his website and Facebook Page.