Zdesj Byl Vasya (Here Was Vasya)

The series is dealing with the theme of man’s relationship to nature. ’Zdesj byl Vasya’ [Здесь был Вася] – directly translating from Russian as ‘Here was Vasya’, is a phrase seen scribbled, more commonly than not, on a significant piece of architecture, a monument or another example of public or private property and is considered as malicious defacement and an act of vandalism. The name ‘Vasya’ here is used to replace anybody’s name and is not directly connected to any person in particular. In almost every frame, there is an object, big or small, which was ‘left behind’ by a human being, intentionally or unintentionally, and which becomes almost the integral part of the landscape. That ‘vandalised’ part of the landscape, which we hardly ever notice nowadays, is my attempt for a broad interpretation of this phrase as a way to show a man’s destructive connection to our environment.