Social Project. Intercultural Book Home.Konstanz.Love

HOME.KONSTANZ.LOVE
A social documentary project about belonging, identity, and tenderness in Konstanz, Germany.

Project Overview
Home.Konstanz.Love is an ongoing intercultural documentary and portrait project exploring what home, belonging, and love mean for people from diverse cultures now living in Konstanz — a city shaped by visible and invisible borders.

Through intimate portraits and recorded interviews, the project offers space to all. Most of them are not public figures or artists. They are workers, women, mothers, refugees, teenagers, and scientists. People who carry silent truths and quiet strength — and whose stories, when held with care, reflect what connects us beyond nationality or language.

This project will evolve into:
– An intercultural photo book
– A public exhibition in Konstanz and cities around
– And community storytelling and integration spaces to foster empathy and connection

The Process
– Participants are invited to share what home, belonging, and love mean to them
– Short interviews are conducted by Alina Ushcheka and Yelyzaveta Nebosova, who listen deeply and translate with care
– Intimate portraits are taken by Alina Ushcheka — in natural light, with time and presence
– All work is captured with Leica M11 and Q3 cameras — chosen for their quiet, intuitive sensitivity and ability to hold moments in their most human form

Usually, we meet at the Leica Gallery Café in Konstanz to discuss you, your story, loss, hope, and other important topics, such as Home and Love. And with each face and voice, the soul of this city begins to reveal itself — not as a border, but as a bridge.

From Alina:
I moved to Konstanz recently — a small, peaceful town on the German-Swiss border. This place has become my healing ground after years of wandering and witnessing stories across 55+ countries. And as I began to find stillness here, I started meeting others who were also not born here, but now call this place Home.

Some are artists. Some are scientists. Some work in shops or walk their babies across cobblestones. Some are between languages. Some are building something new while carrying the weight of what they left behind.

I started asking questions:
What does HOME mean for them?
What does BELONGING feel like?
What does LOVE look like now, after all they’ve lived?

These conversations turned into humanitarian stories. The photographs turned into deeper listening. And what began as curiosity became a calling: to document these stories and share them, as an offering of understanding in a world so often divided.

Join the Project

Home.Konstanz.Love is growing — and you're invited.

We’re currently in the heart of this journey:
📍 30 voices recorded.
📍 30 stories held with care.
📍 70 more still waiting to be heard.

Now, as we prepare to begin portraits with the new Leica Summilux 90mm lens,
I’m opening the door for more stories.
More faces.
More quiet truths.

Whether you are:

– someone who came to Konstanz from another country
– someone living between languages, identities, or dreams
– someone who carries an untold story of home, loss, resilience, or love

…you are welcome here.
You don’t have to be an artist or speaker.
You just have to be human.

We meet, we talk, we listen.
Then we create — with presence, with light, and with full respect.

Ways to be part of this:

– Participate: Share your story and be photographed
– Collaborate: Help us host a space, print the book, or curate an exhibition
– Support: Sponsor, share, or simply send warmth our way
– Follow: @ali.ushcheka on Instagram for behind-the-scenes and unfolding stories

If this project speaks to you — even quietly — I’d love to hear from you.
Let’s create something true, together.

📩 Contact: ok [dot] ushcheka [at] gmail [dot] com

Please leave your message below, and I’ll respond with care:

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