Valentyn Kuzan

/ BIO

Valentyn Kuzan is a Ukrainian photographer working in portraiture and documentary photography.

He holds a Specialist Degree in Journalism from Uzhhorod National University (2008). From 2023 to 2025, he served as a military photographer in the communication unit of the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade. He is the co-founder of Studio 72, a creative hub dedicated to war photography and cultural memory. He is also a writer and cultural organiser, the author of the poetry collection Щось (Something) published by Krok Publishing House (2010), and a co-founder of the Uzhhorod literary association Rotonda and the festivals Bereznevi Koty and Ekle.

Kuzan's work has been exhibited in Ukraine and internationally, including in Berlin, Paris and New York, and published in outlets such as The Sunday Times, The Kyiv Independent, Ukrainer, Lokálna Istoriya and Kunsht. He has collaborated with organisations including UNFPA, WHO, UN Women and UNESCO.

/ ARTIST STATEMENT

My artistic practice focuses on portraiture and documentary storytelling, exploring the themes of memory, heritage and identity.
In 2016, I launched the long-term project Cultprocess, which I consider my seminal work. Inspired by the 1920s painter Anatol Petrytskyi, who portrayed the generation later known as the “Executed Renaissance“, I set out to create the largest portrait archive of contemporary Ukrainian writers. If Petrytskyi documented a generation that was silenced, my work documents its continuation — an enduring cultural resistance.
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 fundamentally shifted the focus of my practice from the cultural archive to the frontline. My attention moved from the continuity of Ukrainian heritage to documenting its active resistance. I photographed the destruction of scientific and cultural infrastructure alongside hundreds of narrative portraits of influential civilians and, later, service members on the front line.
From 2023 to 2025, I served as a military photographer in the communication unit of the 72nd Separate Mechanised Brigade, named after the Black Zaporozhians. My portraits became tools for storytelling and resilience, capturing hundreds of faces and personal stories, including those of many who defended Kyiv. This experience strengthened my commitment to creating not only art, but also a lasting record of memory.

/ IN RESIDENCE
I would like to integrate into the artistic environment and take a break from the challenges of war.