Er holt mich schon nicht ein
(He surely won’t catch me)
What happens when the solid ground beneath your feet begins to crumble and something you take for granted, like your own home, loses that same self-evidence?
From one day to the next, the Hamburg-based photographer and student Yana Kyrychenko lost her job and, along with it, her own four walls. The trigger for this upheaval was the omnipresent pandemic. During this period, she sought shelter and protection with her friends to cope with the unpredictable circumstances.
She processes these existential experiences in her photo series <Er holt mich schon nicht ein>. As she makes her way through the labyrinth, she repeatedly encounters new obstacles that initially seem impossible to get past. In the process, she examines her limits and the sense of well-being that results.
How does it feel to let go of long-earned independence and lose oneself in a world of dependence? Can one keep up with a constantly changing environment while keeping one's needs and self despite everything? While at the same time, not stepping on the toes of your loved ones and giving them space within their own four walls? And when is it time to leave? Is a body that never rests dangerous to one's mental health? And is it possible to draw strength from something that may not even exist? Who gets to see the wounds caused by one's situation, which society ever too often dislikes to see?
Life seemed to her like a surreal dream that had no end.
In Germany, the dominant society has a homogenous view of people who are affected by homelessness. They are primarily associated with older, unkempt, drug-addicted men. Many people do not know that they only make up a small, visible part of the group. The larger part lives in hiding and is usually not recognised as such. Women, in particular, make themselves invisible, are ashamed of their situation, and often reject professional help. Homelessness is a marginal phenomenon that receives little attention in politics and society. By revealing her own situation, the photographer attempts to shed light on the invisible.
Though her journey out of homelessness seemed utopian to her, it ended equally unexpectedly with the completion of the project.
