“Bicycles and their people”

Did you know that every bike has its own history, adventures, and even a name of their own? Photo project “Bikes and their people” was launched in Lviv as a part of the Rover Film Festival to be held on September 21-22 (more about the event in The Day’s issue No. 45 from August 12, 2013). These are 14 stories told by people about how a bike first appeared in their life, how it changed their life, and what incredible things happened to them while riding a bike. These stories, illustrated with photographs of people and their bicycles, show that regardless of age, profession, or wealth, a bicycle is not only a fashionable detail of person’s image or purely recreational element, but above all it is a convenient means of transportation.

Cultural and artistic project is implemented through the coordination of the three initiators: editor of the blog “Lviv Cycle Chic” Oksana Pihel, photographer Taras Muchychka, and art director of the coffee house “Viennese buns” Ivanka Tyrpych-Radomska.

“The idea of this exhibition originated at a meeting of partners of the festival,” Oksana Pihel, one of the project coordinators, told The Day. “An exhibition of such kind is a good chance to show people on certain examples that it is possible to ride a bike and still look good! The heroes of our exhibition are all different people – everyone has their own profession, lifestyle, and daily routes, different age and preferences… and they all share a passion for bikes. They made this choice for themselves and are proud of it.”

“I GOT MY BIKE IN EXCHANGE,” SAID ANDRII, 33-YEAR-OLD DESIGNER, A PARTICIPANT OF THE PHOTO PROJECT. THE PERSON, WHO SOLD IT TO ME WANTED TO GET A NEW CROSS-COUNTRY BIKE WITH HIGHER SPEED, WHILE I WANTED THE OPPOSITE. MY JEEP “AUTHOR” WENT TO THE NEW OWNER AND INSTEAD I GOT A “CHOPPER” / Photo by Taras MUCHYCHKA

“This exhibition is our vision of how a modern cyclist should look,” said one of the organizers of the event photographer Taras Muchychka. “The models for photo works became like-minded people, who believe that riding a bicycle is not only comfortable, but also stylish. We were very pleased when the coffee house ‘Viennese Buns’ offered to use their premise for this project and Wiz-art became our partner.”

Preparations for the exhibition lasted for about two months. During this time, the organizers put a lot of effort to make things happen at the appropriate level: spoke with people willing to participate in the project, looked for nice location for a photo shoot, solved a variety of problems, even though not everything went “like clockwork.” “We planned photo shoots thoroughly, discussed every detail. Sometimes we would discuss things for five hours straight and it still didn’t give us the confidence. However, the process of shooting was completely under control and we knew exactly what results we wanted to obtain,” added Muchychka.

The Day’s JOURNALIST AUTHOR OF THE ARTICLE ALSO JOINED THE PHOTO PROJECT AND TOLD THE STORY OF HER BIKE: “I GOT THIS BEAUTIFUL RED PRINCE THAT YOU CAN SEE IN THE PHOTO AS A PRESENT FROM MY FRIENDS. AT FIRST THEY SAID IT WAS FRENCH. THEN, THEY TOLD ME THEY BROUGHT IT FROM WARSAW. AND EVENTUALLY I FOUND OUT THAT IT WAS MADE IN GERMANY. HERE IS HOW MULTICULTURAL IT IS, BESIDES IT IS A GOOD TRAVELER” / Photo by Taras MUCHYCHKA

The organizers of the photo project hope that it will draw attention of Lviv residents to the “transportation problem” in the city, to make them think about the ecology of Lviv in the future. By the way, bikes have long been a European solution to the problem of urban environment, not just a means of transportation. The exhibition can be viewed until September 4 at Lviv coffee house “Viennese Buns” on Katedralna Square, 3. After the exhibition all the photos and stories of the bike owners will be published in Lviv section of an international blog “Lviv Cycle Chic” that can be found at lvivcyclechic. blogspot.com in the category “Bicycles and their people.”