Published by Hirmer Publishers in 2011, “I’ve Been Here Once Before” presents a multifaceted retrospective of Ukrainian photographer Boris Mikhailov. Edited by filmmaker David Teboul, the book follows the 2010 documentary of the same name, blending cinematic stills with Mikhailov’s beautifully crafted and often melancholy photographic works. For more than thirty years, Mikhailov has engaged with the idea of the individual in the public sphere, recording the human casualties of the Soviet Union’s breakup with an unsparing yet soulful eye. The volume is uniquely valuable for its extensive interviews, where Mikhailov discusses his subversive creative process and the harsh social realities of his time, effectively bringing back into focus a body of work that remained largely unknown prior to the collapse of the Soviet system.
