N E W S L E T T E R

Picture Series

Lukas van Bentum
Identity Negotiation

Victory Park was officially opened in May 2000 and is home to some of the city’s most important historical attractions: the Sally Port, the Orthodox Chapel of St. George, the railway gate, the monument to the Soviet Scouts and the War Memorial, a monument to a Red Army mass grave.
A sculpture of the German imperial eagle is shown in a diorama of the Königsberg Offensive at the State Museum of History and Art in Kaliningrad.
Alexander poses in the light of a street lamp in front of a bar. He sees himself as a member of Kaliningrad’s punk scene and dreams of emigrating to London.
Kaliningrad’s Pregel Bastion was once one of the Prussian fortifications surrounding the city of Königsberg. Today it is used primarily by the young generation as a bar and nightclub.
Kristin stands in front of a Kaliningrad club after DJing at a local underground techno party. She describes herself as a model, fashion icon, artist, Instagrammer and socialmedia influencer.
In 1968, the municipal government tore down the ruins of Königsberg Castle and claimed it had been a centre of fascism. The “Dom Sovetov” (House of Soviets) was to be built on the ruins as a symbol of Soviet power and a manifestation of the fall of the Prussian era. However, this monumental project failed because the government ran out of funds. Furthermore, the foundation turned out to be too unstable to carry the building.
A statue of Lenin in Sovetsk (Tilsit until 1946) on the Lithuanian border to Kaliningrad Oblast.
Rapper Kanashii Sharag poses on a roof in the centre of Kaliningrad. In his free time, he makes music and writes critical texts about current state doctrine in Russia.
Roysh in front of an abandoned factory. She describes herself as an Instagrammer and fashion influencer.
Students of the Baltic Fleet Academy line up for the morning roll call.
Alyona on her couch at home. She describes herself as a graphic and fashion designer. She concentrates primarily on feminist and system-critical topics.
A newly built Orthodox church on the outskirts of the city. Proponents of isolation for Kaliningrad Oblast, and for the Russian Federation from the West, stress Russian patriotism to reinforce their ambitions. They are calling for Kaliningrad to take on Russian culture and support the construction of Orthodox churches in the city. In May 1996, on the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, the foundation stone of Christ the Saviour Cathedral, which is a copy of the eponymous cathedral in Moscow, was laid on Victory Square. The celebratory speeches proclaimed that Kaliningrad would always belong to Russia.
Dima stands in front of a façade in his neighbourhood. On his jacket, he proudly wears the coat of arms of the Russian Federation, which features a two-headed eagle.
Yuri in front of Kaliningrad’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral. He sees himself as a member of the city’s punk scene.
A heart-shaped stone in the colours of the Russian flag in a Kaliningrad neighbourhood.
The Baltic fleet, which is stationed in Kaliningrad, stages a military parade on Victory Day. The parade takes place in front of Victory Square and the cathedral of Christ the Saviour.
A young man after a re-enactment. Every year on Victory Day, the Königsberg Offensive is re-enacted in front of Fort No. 5, located outside the city.
A large red star looms over Gvardeyskiy Prospekt, or Guards Army Avenue, in the centre of Kaliningrad.

In April 1945, the Prussian city of Königsberg had been all but destroyed. The remaining German inhabitants were expelled by the Soviet leadership. The Königsberg Offensive became a founding myth of the new city of Kaliningrad, which was established in accordance with Soviet ideology. However, with the recent accession of the border countries Poland and Lithuania to NATO and the EU, Kaliningrad has become a Russian exclave within Europe. Today, the older population fears “Europeanisation” and the loss of Russian while the younger generation are showing a shift towards European culture. In this photo-reportage, Lukas van Bentum examines the connections between the received image of history, contemporary state doctrine, symbolic architecture and local identity of a new generation growing up in a region characterised by the demarcation between Russia and the European Union, as well as the potential for European integration that is inherent in the city’s location.

  • Fascism
  • Identity
  • Memory
  • Russia
  • Youth
3 Questions
1. The door opener: Can you describe a formative moment in your career as a visual journalist?

The decisive factor in my career as a photographer was definitely the receipt of my scholarship from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation, which supported me greatly during my studies. In addition, during my studies, I was particularly influenced by the teaching of Prof. Roman Bezjak in Bielefeld, my year abroad at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent and the School of Speculative Documentary. Besides that, the selection for “gute aussichten – junge deutsche fotografie – new german photography 2019/2020” finally enabled me to present my work to a larger audience and to connect and interact with other professionals.

2. The decisive moment: When did you first encounter your topic and why did you decide to cover it photographically?

I first became aware of the Kaliningrad region in connection with the United States’ withdrawal from the INF Treaty with Russia to ban land-based short and medium-range missiles. According to information from the Pentagon, the cruise missiles presumably stationed in Kaliningrad, the former Königsberg, seriously violated the INF agreement. Up to this point, the Kaliningrad Oblast was an area, whose existence was unknown to me. Especially because of this lack of knowledge about a region that is in the middle of the EU, I wondered what it must be like for a generation of my age to grow up in such an isolated region.

3. The future: What could the visual journalism of the future be like?

Since facts and expert knowledge are often dismissed as “fake news” or opposed by “alternative facts”, simply offering more data and facts may not work against politicians and people who defend themselves against facts that are in conflict with their prejudices or feelings. Alternative facts have to be refuted not only by data, but also by shared stories, experiences and emotions of real people and their effects on the major global problems. They can expose how the major problems facing the world really affect individuals and communities. They can be more assignable, more real – reality is what we feel.
This does not mean that we have insights and arguments in emotional behaviours, but that we conduct and share research in a way that helps people connect with people and issues with the aim to understand them.

The photographer Lukas van Bentum talks about his project Identity Negotiation and about how he experienced the process of creation.

»The individual in my work should be representative of something bigger.«

Lukas van Bentum

Curated by René Schröder

© for all photos by the photographers
© for videos Lumix Festival Hanover, if not indicated otherwise.

*1995 in Düsseldorf, Germany
Lukas van Bentum studied Photography and Media in Bielefeld and the Belgian city of Ghent. His long-term projects focus on political and social topics in Germany, Russia, Moldova and Azerbaijan. Van Bentum is interested primarily in the influence of history, gender-role models and aspects of identity among people and communities.

www.lukasvanbentum.net
@l_vanbentum

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