Lollipop  (1996) and Chamber  (1996) extend photography into the realm of objects and installations. In both works, photographic images are embedded within material structures—sugar, cellophane, wood, and enclosed architectural forms—shifting the image from representation toward containment, display, and physical encounter. The works were exhibited at the Soros Center for Contemporary Art (Kyiv-Mohyla Academy), Ukraine, in 1996 and 1997

The series responded to the increasing practice of Ukrainian orphan children being adopted by wealthy Americans. 1997. Series of 13 photographs of museum stuffed birds of prey and small children. Dimensions variable. Installation view: Kohta gallery, Helsinki, Finland, 2022

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

At the site of the 1945 Yalta Conference, the artist presented documentation of a performance he had staged elsewhere. His father had been one of the officers assigned to protect the gathering. In the work, the artist reconstructed the tasks of the military telecom operators, who were responsible for maintaining communication—sometimes at the risk of their lives. 1998. Video installation: video, telephones, electrical wires. 5'27" Installation view: exhibition A Day in the Li

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