VEHA Archive Begins Work on the Second Volume of "Ruins of Belarus" and Invites Sharing Photos from Family Archives

Almost a year has passed since the publication of the first volume of "Ruins." During this time, the book made its way into libraries worldwide, received the Najpiękniejsze Polskie Książki 2025 award, one of the most prestigious cultural competitions in Poland, organized since 1957 by the Polish Publishers Association (PTWK).

The book was also shortlisted for Fotograficzna Publikacja Roku and was presented at exhibitions at the Muzeum Sztuki Nowoczesnej, Instytut Fotografii Fort, and Łódź Fotofestiwal 2026. This is not so much a list of awards as it is confirmation that stories preserved in family albums can hold significance far beyond an individual family.

The creators of the VEHA project are an independent digital archive of 20th-century vernacular photography, which collects and researches the visual history of Belarus through family photo archives. Today, the online archive contains over 3000 unique photographs from hundreds of different sources and is regularly updated with new materials.

Why a second volume?

The first volume of "Ruins of Belarus" became a study of how photography can preserve the memory of disappearing places. In the process of work, it became clear that there was significantly more material than one publication could accommodate. That is why VEHA is starting work on the second volume of "Ruins of Belarus." The selection of architectural objects will again take place in direct interaction with people who submit their photographs.

As in the first volume, a body of research texts on history and architecture will be created around the photographs. The texts will be prepared from a Belarusian perspective and published in three languages — Belarusian, Polish, and English. Thus, the book will once again connect family photography, visual history, and research into Belarus's architectural heritage.

How to submit a photo?

VEHA invites submissions of photographs taken on the territory of modern-day Belarus before 1990, on which ruins of historical buildings can be seen. These can include castles, manors, Orthodox and Catholic churches, synagogues, mills, railway stations, and other buildings. Photos in which people pose against the backdrop of ruins are of particular value. Shifting the focus from architecture to people has become one of the project's key features.

The VEHA archive collects only digital copies; originals remain with the family.

Copies can be sent to [email protected] until December 1, 2026.

For each photo, if possible, include: year · place · who is in the photo · your name. Don't know the exact date or place? Send it anyway — write down everything you know. All photos that meet the project's criteria will be processed, cataloged, and added to the VEHA online archive. The most interesting photographs will be published in the book.

In official archives, history is usually presented through major events and famous people. Family photography works differently. It preserves history horizontally, through thousands of individual memories, candid shots, and everyday scenes. These fragments can be assembled like puzzles into a grand picture of Belarus's visual history, and the book will preserve it for the future.

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