This Ukrainian photographer captures the hidden eroticism and fantasy sub-culture of Ukrainian railroads

Traveling through Ukraine via rail is anything but ordinary. Even before the current conflict, Ukrainian railways have served as essential transportation for its citizens. Photographer Julie Poly reveals the fashion, culture, and the simple joys of life that can occur within unassuming metal train cars. Her series, Ukrzaliznytsia, is a collection of both staged and incidental photographs made from 2017 to 2019 while Poly studied to be a conductor of the Ukrainian railway company. As Poly explains, "I interpret cultural and visual codes of typical Ukrainian everyday life, predominantly in the fields of eroticism, fashion, and novel notions of beauty." For Poly there is no better place to find exceptional moments of everyday Ukrainian life than the trains that criss-cross her country.

Her project seamlessly crosses the boundary between reality and fantasy, interspersing fictional characters with real passengers. "Among the protagonists are businesswomen from the capital, village gigolos, soldiers, students, and ladies in leopard garments. The project was inspired by my own observations as well as by my real experiences."

Julie Poly

Poly considers herself as a "mockumentarian". She describes the process in encapsulating this photo series: "In general, my art practice is about merging my previous experience in documentary and staged photography. I find myself constantly inspired by trivial things, everyday events, stories from the lives of friends, and my own experience."

Julie Poly

In the series, blending lines between reality and fiction is not a betrayal by Poly of a present sensibility, but rather an accentuation and celebration of the beauty she sees.

Julie Poly

And now, it acts as a reminder of the happiness and beauty of Ukraine and its people that is hard to come by in today's headlines.

Julie Poly

Poly's work doesn't only focus on extroverted characters and raucous, joyous happenings, but also on the more quiet and tender moments onboard that occur amongst the mayhem.

Julie Poly

A cake by the window, or a tightly buttoned shirt: even these mundane snapshots show that Poly's joyous, extravagant world on the railroad has some ordinary moments. The artist's task is to seek distraction from unpleasant realities, such as the one Ukraine is currently facing.

Julie Poly

The train is a perfect place for us to try and be different people with different desires and different tastes. After all, odds are one will never encounter these strangers twice in a lifetime. Poly suggests an intimacy in the enclosed space of a train: "... [it] is intimately erotic primarily because nowhere in the world you will find trains where half-naked people travel together side by side."

Julie Poly

"In the Ukrainian trains, there is a tradition for passengers to dress in more comfortable clothes once they get in, change their shoes to slippers or lie barefoot, have dinner and a drink — all that in tight compartments."

Julie Poly

Poly decided early on that she wanted the series to become a photo book. The book consists of 13 stories which are different characters going to a different destination. Each of these stories are accompanied by text written by Lizaveta Gottfrick and Olga Balenciaga, based on Poly's experience as a train conductor.

Julie Poly

As Poly says, "Even before you've bought your ticket, you've probably made up stories about your fellow travelers — who turn out to be completely different people by the end of the trip. You meet all kinds of characters on trains. It's a lottery: maybe it will bring you romance, maybe a murder (in films, anyway)."

Julie Poly