The Ukrainian East Village

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the epicenter of the Ukrainian community in New York had been a part of the East Village neighborhood known as the Ukrainian Village or Little Ukraine. I became acquainted with Ukrainian Americans – people who had immigrated to America or were descendants of immigrants – and their political, social, cultural, sports and financial institutions. I photographed people who wanted to take part in my project either at home or at work. An integral part of the project was the recording of their biographies and stories about Ukrainian New York. Most of all, I was interested in the following questions: How do they understand their identity? How important to them (and their parents and children) are their roots? What integration strategies did they use when coming to their new homeland?