Drunk Confessions: Film Photos from House Parties of Ukrainian Students

— A couple years ago I found my mom’s old film — and it just went from there.

Partying started in my freshman year in the history department — it is always brimming with life, there are constant parties, beer between classes, or celebrations. Photography became the means to capture all of this fun and sadness. People in the photographs are usually myself, my friend, our friends, and friends of friends. So, there is sort of a group of people spending time together, but there are always new people coming.

When you are drunk and taking photographs of other drunk people, they turn out vibrant and intense. At some point, my friend and I went through so many rolls of film that we decided to create a blog. The title was sort of obvious.

The idea of Drunk Film is that we are in the epicenter of events. It is ‘drunk’ not only because you are taking photographs of drunk people, but because you also drink in the process, until the world turns upside down. I am not trying to call myself a professional who works in photography, comes to parties and takes photographs of cool people; I get drunk and party with everyone, thus living the same experience while capturing it.

Drunk Film is something without clear frames or limitations, without a defined idea or goal. The initial blog was planned as a sort of a family archive, but at the end of the day, there were too many photographs with strangers and joint parties, music shows, it started getting attention from different people, so it turned into something bigger naturally. A couple times people would send their photographs that I published gladly, so I could say that Drunk Film is also a platform.

The very process of doing it manually gives me great satisfaction, as it also requires resources and a large amount of effort: you need to buy the film, go develop and digitize it, pick it up, and then rush home to see the result. The limited number of frames is also very stimulating: only 36, and no opportunity to retake a shot. On film, everything happens only here and now.

There are no photographs that I don’t have the guts to share — there are photographs that don’t fit into the concept of the post. Censorship is stupid!

The most fun thing is to sledge while drunk, when it is slippery, dangerous, and dark. We also went to get vodka at the nearby gas station at -15 while wearing shorts. It is our favorite pastime — to wander to get more alcohol through some kind of urban jungle. At music shows we slam, faces get punched, people quarrel, a bass player and a drummer kiss, tattoos are made in absolutely unfit conditions and so on. One time, a fire extinguisher was opened with a saw in the club toilet, and then there was a mini-fire in the yard. We have another special place — a summer house in a village near Kyiv, where strange things always happen. One time, a guy decided to climb up to the second floor of the house with the help of a floor mop, and ended up almost breaking his legs.

We were never picky about alcohol — we usually buy the cheapest or something that is on sale. We start with beer or cider, our favorites are Arsenal Strong, Teteriv, Baltica Nine, Doms, or Chernihivske. And well, the way it usually goes from there, next comes the vodka. Sometimes we want to experiment, so we buy some kind of liqueur or fruit alcohol. We have some friends that can mix a cocktail from vodka, port wine 777, and add some pepper spray to it.

We fill in the emptiness of everyday existence with alcohol and crazy parties — I think, this is enough. The negative consequences are broken limbs, bad trips, and broken hearts.

I don’t know how my relationship with alcohol develops. Today you drink, and tomorrow you go get some prison-style tattoos.