Marlene Matus

Marlene Matus (; 11 July 1939 - 24 April 2014) was a Ukrainian photographer and educator based in Dnipro. He was known for his documentary-style work, particularly for the photo series Pages from an Old Album, and for his role in developing photography in the region. Matus co-founded the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Children’s and Youth Film Center "Vesnyanka" and later established the Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia Photo Clubs, all of which have been important institutions fo rphotographic education in Ukraine.

Early life Matus was born on 11 July 1939 in the city of Khabarovsk, which was then part of the Russian SFSR in the Soviet Union. After the start of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941 and the invasion of the Soviet Union, his family moved with him to Guryev, and later, after the war in 1946, to the city of Dnepropetrovsk in the Ukrainian SSR. It was based off the cine-photo studi of the regional Young Technicians' Station. This was the first in the USSR and the only in the Ukrainian SSR youth film center. "Vesnyanka" was created by the idea of Matus's friend, Yuri Skakhin, who made him artistic director of the project upon Matus's return from the army, and Skakhin then departed to work in television. In 1990, it was renamed. Today, it has about 800 students each year. "Pages from an Old Album" serves as a photographic diary of the 1950s, documenting everyday life when she was eleven years old, which has been argued was impactful because it was a more unselfconscious perspective. It was also notable for its candidness, as during the Joseph Stalin era, most people were wary of cameras, but a child could photograph freely. He would later return to the work a few years later to follow it up with "Based on the Pages of an Old Album", in which she traced those same people in the photographs from the 1950s to 1991.

Personal life Matus died on 24 April 2014 after a prolonged illness. He was survived by his widow, Nina Dovgiallo, who was a radiophysicist, painter, and a candidate for Master of Radio Sports.

Honours and awards He was personally awarded with the "Excellence in Education" honour by both the USSR and Ukraine and the "Sofia Rusova" Badge from the Ministry of Education of Ukraine. It contained a retrospective of about 200 photographs by Matus, presenting fragments of large thematic series. A children's art festival in Dnipro also bears his name.