Artwork at the Poland and Ukraine border

The artistic work from the Poland and Ukraine border can be viewed below. Please click on the individual photo carousels to move from one image to another. 

Artbook by Professor Marek Domański

The Bug River, along a section of approximately 228 km, from Gołębiów to the tripoint of the borders of Ukraine, Poland, and Belarus in Orchówek, constitutes what is commonly described as a “natural” state and European Union border. Yet there is, of course, nothing natural about it. The border between the Polish People's Republic and the USSR was finally established in 1951, following a revision of the arrangements set forth in the agreement signed in Moscow, which confirmed the agreement of July 27, 1944, between the Polish Committee of National Liberation and the USSR. Since 1991, the river has separated Poland from Ukraine. The border line runs through the middle of the meandering river.

When kayaking, one must be careful not to cross the invisible border running somewhere in the middle of the slow but strong current. Despite the war raging in the country east of the Bug, one can enjoy tourism, fishing, or even living in a house overlooking the river. Beyond the border crossings, where the frontier openly manifests its oppressive character, the boundary is guarded discreetly yet incessantly. A lost traveller may be certain of encountering officers of the border guard, who appear with remarkable speed and without warning. The border is constantly monitored using various devices, including thermal imaging.

The photographic technique of recording images using infrared radiation, invisible to the human eye, usually below 740 nanometers, is not much older than the border on the Bug River. For many years, this technique had military and scientific applications. Films sensitive to infrared radiation were used for reconnaissance and surveillance, for example, to reveal camouflaged military installations. Today, infrared is used in technology that produces images from drones used to observe the border or battlefield. While navigating the Bug River, you can't see the border, but you feel its powerful presence; you can't stop thinking about it, you can't ignore it. Somewhere out there, there are countless devices monitoring our presence. They likely perceive that I am photographing with a somewhat peculiar medium-format camera, one that records in infrared.

That's how this photo was created. 

Photography at the border of Poland and Ukraine

By Professor Marek Domański

The border between Poland and Ukraine was established after World War II. At that time, it separated the Polish People's Republic from the USSR. Its current course was established in 1951, following a correction to the agreement signed on August 16, 1945, in Moscow, which confirmed the July 27, 1944, agreement between the Polish Committee of National Liberation and the USSR. Since 1991, the Bug River has separated Poland from independent Ukraine. The border line runs along the middle of the meandering river.

Traces of Ukrainian culture are still visible on the Polish side of the border, and remnants of Polish material culture can be found on the right bank of the Bug River. The visual exploration of the cultural landscape of the borderland from the Polish side was determined by the river. Its presence limits the space to three cardinal directions. Therefore, I decided to experience the border by travelling along Route 816, which runs north to south, along the border and the Bug River. In Ukraine, access to the river is nearly impossible because the border strip is wide and difficult to reach. I photographed mainly in the town of Waręż and around the cities of Volodymyr and Sheptytskyi. This area seems to capture the problems and sentiments prevelent in the Ukrainian border zone. The country's difficult economic situation and the war are visible even here.