Michal Chelbin's series "Sailboats and Swans" was shot over 6 years in prisons across Ukraine and Russia. This series is mostly made of portraits of the prisoners and depending on the subject, Chelbin uses the appropriate aperture to make sure they are in focus. Chelbin probably uses a quick shutter speed to ensure there is no motion blur from his subjects.
All of his portraits appear posed, but Chelbin has clearly gotten the person in the picture to a place where their face is making really incredible expressions. The body language seen in these pictures is off-putting and strange and speaks to themes of confinement and defiance. The clothes the wear- such as the girls in the flowered dresses- are not what we would typically expect prisoners to wear. The whole series is very revealing about the prison culture in Russia and Ukraine. I like Chelbin's style of portraits where the subject appears uncomfortable and awkward because it makes the viewer feel something and think about why they are in that state.
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