Aliaxandar Lukashenka, the President of Belarus, has been expressing his openness and accessibility as the "people's president" and often appears in public activities, but he's always surrounded by guards. Those who can approach him are predefined by the securities. There is a list of angles from which is not recommended to photograph the president. Only a few photographers in the country are allowed to make photos of him.

But the picture on the national television, where the president is seen every day, shows the opposite - the president is close and accessible.

The "Private Lukashenka" project is an attempt to break that border allowed by guards between the real person and his projections on the screen, to go up to him closer, even breaking the intimate zone. It's a reflection over the question of where the boundary between the real man and his projection lies.

For this project the public records of the Belarusian TV and the official pictoral reviews were used. Copies of these images were photographed through the screen of the monitor at the shortest possible distance, taking into account all the details of the president's appearance.

October 2011