TITLE : ALMOST FAMILIAR
PHOTOBOOK
AUTHOR : DMITRY STEPANENKO
Dmitry Stepanenko revisits his hometown of Odesa through photography, transforming memory and exile into a visual journey of rediscovery before the war changed the city.
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”
T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding
“Almost Familiar is a collection of photographs taken in my hometown of Odesa – a city I left many years ago, and one I only ever knew how to photograph in hindsight.
My journey as a documentary and street photographer truly began after I moved to the UK. Because my visual style evolved in exile, I had never actually explored Odesa through a lens. Returning for sporadic visits before the war became a dual exercise in rediscovery and self-discovery. Walking the familiar streets, the bustling seaside, the vibrant markets, and the leafy squares, I found myself looking at my past through a completely new perspective. The city was deeply ingrained in me, yet the camera allowed me to uncover layers and nuances I had been blind to when I lived there.
These images were taken up to October 2021, capturing the final chapters of a peace we didn’t know was ending. Today, these photographs exist as a time capsule. My deepest hope is to return to the sunny, peaceful streets of Odesa, to pick up the camera, and to continue the journey where it was broken off.”
The zine can be purchased from the website https://www.
About Dmitry Stepanenko
Born in Odessa, Ukraine in 1987, Dmitry started doing street photography after moving to the UK in 2010 and it quickly became his primary interest. In 2013 he became one of the founding members of an international street photography collective called The Street Collective.
Dmitry’s first personal exhibition was held at the Museum of Western and Eastern Art in Odessa, Ukraine in 2017, followed by a personal exhibition at Stour Space in London. Apart from that, Dmitry took part in a number of group exhibitions across the world and was published in various photographic magazines and websites.
In 2017 his first book “Heavy Colour” was published in the UK followed by “In Bloom” zine in 2018. Dmitry is a co-founder and Creative Director at the London Street Photography Festival.
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