Vladimir Tretyakov

Crazy about...

It’s difficult for people with mental disorders to find a partner. Institutions in which mentally challenged people are often kept from early childhood onwards don’t support intimate or romantic relationships. But this kind of connection is a basic human need. Also for mentally challenged people.

This project (in progress) is about an experimental program at Alramy Center in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan that has taken mentally challenged individuals and couples out of institutions to live independently, work and have families. I spent time with three couples who are participants of this program, observing and understanding their relationships.

Vladimir and Oksana Pavlodar created a family and gave a birth to a healthy child. Valery and Natalia on the other hand, would like to get married, but their relatives are against it. It happens quite often that society is against mentally challenged people getting married and having children. However, the connection between mental disorders and genetics hasn’t been studied enough. The Pavlodar family is a good example that the diagnosis is not necessarily passed on to the children.

Vladimir Tretyakov

Vladimir Tretyakov is a photojournalist spotlighting social, economic and political themes. He also works with longer term human interest stories. Vladimir sees reportage as a tool to make a strong impression on the viewer, reader and those who can make changes. He prefers to work on location - here and now - be that emergencies, military trainings, long-awaited openings or scandalous finissages. Vladimir also teaches photojournalism at various trainings and institutions.