1996. Series of 3 photographs. C-print. 118 × 80 cm

Bedtime Stories may now seem somewhat exaggerated, but at the time it apparently did not, given the shockingly criminal everyday life of the post-Soviet 1990s; hence, the artist’s use of black humour as a form of sublimation. 1998. A series of 12 staged photographs with accompanying narratives. C-print. 50 × 60 cm Installation view: Rohkunstbau, Berlin, Germany, 2005

The artist’s friend invited him to take part in her graduate curatorial group show Dressed in White at Bard College, New York. At that time, the artist was drawn to the interplay of images of the poet Aleksandr Vertinsky, the singer Georg Ots, and the mythological figure Sebastian. In Bratkov’s performance, however, tomatoes were used instead of arrows. Later, he also presented a similar performance in Kiev. 1998. Series of 8 photographs. Dimensions variable.

1998. Series of 7 portraits. C-print. 40 × 27 cm

In this series, the artist combined photographs from his recent trip to New York with scenes of everyday life in Horn. 1998. Series of 8 photographs New York—Horn (18 × 13 cm); mixed-media installation Goats in Horn in a community kitchen at the residence Kultur Kontakt, Horn, Austria.

Produced in 2000, Kids  is a photographic series composed of individual life-sized or near life-sized portraits depicting children and adolescents photographed in post-Soviet urban environments. The series presents six portraits: a boy seated on a stool wearing a women’s swimsuit; another boy sitting down, pouting; a little girl in a short black dress smoking a cigarette; a second girl in make-up wearing a dress that reveals her arms and shoulders; and another looking exhaust

At the time of his move to Moscow, the theme of post-Soviet childhood was one of Bratkov’s central conceptual concerns. The artist’s children-related projects significantly varied as to themes and methods, but they all dealt with the social anomalies and ruptures of the socialist society, which was losing its “innocence” in a rapid transition to capitalist realism. Employing iconography of biblical subjects, Italian School , for instance, commented on the flow of religious pr

In this vein, the series Glue Sniffers (2000) and Juvenile Detention (2001) registered different manifestations of the failed state. The series was created in one of the detention centres in Kharkiv for troubled children (petty thieves, hooligans, drug addicts, prostitutes). Glue Sniffers. 2001. Series of 6 photographs. 90 × 90 cm

2001. Series of 9 photographs. C-print. Dimensions variable

Sick children were given balloons to blow up in order to strengthen their lungs. A stark reflection of the poverty of the time. Series of 6 photographs. C-print. 27 × 40 cm

2000. Series of 5 photographs. C-print. Dimensions variable Installation view: Canal de Isabel II, Madrid, Spain, 2009

At the turn of the 2000s, Bratkov was also conceptually engaged with post-Soviet social and professional types. Many of his portraits of such figures were made in Ukraine. The most striking among them were not those that reinforced age, gender, and social stereotypes of their respective professions, but those that challenged them. Series of 10 photographs. Nos. 1–9: C-print. 98 × 73 cm; no. 10: C-print. 98 ×128 cm

2001. Dyptich. C-print. 85 × 60 cm each

At the turn of the 2000s, Bratkov was also conceptually engaged with post-Soviet social and professional types. Many of his portraits of such figures were made in Ukraine. The most striking among them were not those that reinforced age, gender, and social stereotypes of their respective professions, but those that challenged them. The latter include, for instance, Army Girls and the retired Sailors . 2001. Series of 7 photographs. C-print. 85 × 60 cm; Video 3'21''

2001. Series of 4 photographs. C-print. 45 × 30 cm

Among his most notable series is Steelworkers . “I like the sense of professional pride of these people,” the artist explained. “In the time of wild capitalism and aggressive entrepreneurship, I found their choice of an ordinary profession more sympathetic. Driven not by money but by duty, they were, to my mind, the heroes of the time.” Bratkov later explained his decline of interest in such portraits by noting that the epoch of “ordinary heroes” had disappeared in the more p

The second-hand shops were a relatively new and widespread phenomenon in post-Soviet countries, characteristic of the era. For this series, the artist invited some of his friends to pose. 2000. Series of 9 photographs. 70 × 50 cm

At the time, Slava Mogutin was living in Russia and was known primarily as a poet, often described as a kind of new Mayakovsky. Project Kabul Olympics critically juxtaposed the US military occupation of Afghanistan with the Salt Lake City Olympic Games, both of which took place in 2002. The central figure of the series is a soldier-athlete, embodied by Slava Mogutin — a poet, writer, actor, and seasoned provocateur. Moscow-based military uniform collector Sergey Ilyin provide

To make a living, Bratkov worked part-time in the advertising industry at the time. This series was commissioned by a vodka company based in Ossetia, during a period of rapid growth in vodka production in Russia. Many new brands emerged, and to attract attention the agency sought a provocative approach. Bratkov presented the series as a commentary on the nature of early capitalist Russian business. Installation view: advertising billboard for Fayur-Soyuz vodka on the streets

Following the artist’s suggestion, his gallery organised a beach photography competition with both obligatory and free programmes. The series was created using a self-made camera with a fish-eye lens. 2002. Series of 8 photographs. C-print. Ø 16 cm