Escape

Danila Tkachenko

'Man does not need society at all, it’s society that needs man. Society is an invention that offers protection and secures survival. But unlike the herd animal, man must live alone – in nature among animals and plants.' – Andrey Tarkovsky

 These are strong words that the young Russian photographer Danila Tkachenko uses to introduce his picture series Escape; most people all over the world live in communities with others and adapt to the demands society makes on its members in work and family life. Yet many suffer under the constraints – they either break, or they drop out.
No matter how overused the term ‘dropout’ is, Danila Tkachenko has portrayed the most radical of their kind in this series: men who have turned their backs on society to live alone as hermits in the wilderness of the Russian forest. Confronted with this disturbing work, we are forced to address the question of our own personal freedom and its consequences anew.
Escape won first prize at the World Press Photo Contest 2014.