What is this photo project about?
“Doors Closed” is an all-Ukrainian documentary photo project by The Gate Agency about Ukrainian businesses living during the COVID-19 pandemic. One hundred owners of restaurants, travel agencies, factories, private schools, law firms, sports centers, eco-farms, IT companies, and other businesses took part and told their stories. We shot heroes in Kyiv, Dnipro, Lviv, Odesa, Mykolayiv, Kremenchuk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Kherson, and Chernihiv. All these stories are now on the site, created for the photo project by Hexagon Agency.
How did the process look like?
We photographed business owners in their spaces: inside offices, establishments, shops, or warehouses. We learned about the history of business creation, the feeling with which people had to close their doors, thoughts about what will happen next, and how Ukrainians plan to get out of the post-quarantine crisis.
Having talked to hundreds of Ukrainian business owners, we can say that these are stories about inspiration, the power to go through the unknown, the courage to make decisions, and take responsibility for their business and team.
This is a big photo project with expressive shots, sincere stories, and extraordinary Ukrainians.
Grigory Veprik
PhotographerOleksandr Rozhenyuk
PhotographerKaterina Senchenko
EditorOlena Ivanova
ManagerAbout Hexagon Agency
Hexagon Agency is a design agency that knows. Knows how to create a friendly interface and design that encourages the use of the product. It also knows how to help the city remember the past, and encourage the general public to get acquainted with the quarantined business.
We have been working with large and small companies for ten years. Using our USE methodology, we have implemented projects in partnership with HP, Canon, Lipton, Vodafone, and many other brands that have changed the world. Now we are mostly inspired by bright young startups, with which we can quickly implement ideas and originate new legends together.
About The Gate Agency
The Gate Agency is a photo and video agency for business and about business. We create photo and video projects about the enterprise world – the people behind companies’ names and the companies themselves. We show the face and capabilities of Ukrainian business on a large scale and make it in style. We film individuals and their businesses. Those who lead, create, boldly move forward, and determine the future of the country.