Viktor Kochetov became engaged in photography in 1968 and was also a professional photographer in film and photo laboratories. A significant part of his body of work was created together with his son Sergiy Kochetov. The Kochetovs' art practice is based on cooperation and the mutual exchange of ideas. Their collaborative work shifts focus to scenes of bold, non-staged reality of the late-Soviet to post-Soviet periods. The artists are well-known for their extensive usage of hand-coloring black and white prints, which is rooted in the tradition of "luriki"—enlarged, retouched, and often tinted photographic portraits. Both Viktor and Sergiy Kochetov belong to the Kharkiv School of Photography. Since the mid-70s, the artists associated with this movement have treated photography in an unconventional way, developing personal aesthetics by defying the cultural taboos associated with representation. Their experiments created an iconography that went against the codes of social realism used to glorify the repressive Soviet state.