This series of portraits, offers a deep, emotional insight into the Ukrainian refugee crisis.
The photos capture the stark reality of displacement and loss faced by refugees, symbolized through personal items linked to their previous life left behind. This work is not just an artistic endeavor but an educational and cultural experience, highlighting the resilience of the human spirit in times of turmoil.
All images were taking by Hasselblad on black & white film to show the stark and dramatist of the situation, technic was chosen as muddy and uncertain to represent their current state . In all images the are an objects identifies people portrayed with their previous life.
Musician Natalia with daughter: we are here, but the whole family remains in Ukraine. Every day since the beginning of the war, we dream of meeting our loved ones at home, without flying bombs, sirens, and shelling. Every day we hope that there will be no attacks and that everyone will remain safe. Every day we wait for the end of war, for our victory and peace.
Accountant Yulia spent 20 days in a basement praying for the war to end. But as nothing changed, she left with relatives and neighbors through Hungary and the Czech Republic. Later, she ended up in Houston.
Sergey, a single father from Hostomel, is a mechanic specializing in heavy machinery repair. He has an 11-year-old daughter, Eva, who requires intensive medical care. From the first days of the war, most of the hospitals in Hostomel were destroyed
Audio engineer Yuri left Chernihiv with his family on the day when the missile struck the drama theater.
Sergey from Mariupol left the occupied city with his wife, went through filtration camps, and after that, he managed to leave for the USA
Ballet teacher Irina and her daughter Sofia from Kharkiv. On the 24th at 5:30 a.m., a rocket exploded near their house, and then an intensive shelling began. They stayed in the basement for 20 days, thinking it would end, but it didn’t. They experienced big problems with food and water. They fled through Hungary and the Czech Republic and arrived in the US a month later.
Car mechanic Vlad and his girlfriend from Mariupol were detained by the occupiers and spent 42 days in captivity to be sent to the front line on Russia’s side. Fortunately, he was released and left for the USA via Poland.
Misha, Natasha, and their 7-year-old daughter Sofia from Hostomel went to check on their friends after a bombing and, upon opening their door, discovered that their apartment was no longer there. Misha worked in car repair.
School principal Lena was born and lived her whole life in a suburb of Kharkiv. If it weren’t for the war, she would have never left. ‘War is the worst thing humanity could do. I am thankful to America and my friends in Houston who helped me settle here. I am in comfort and quiet, without sirens and bombings, but my soul and heart are at home, in Ukraine.
Dima is a professional jazz guitarist. He was working on a ship when the war started and, at the request of his parents, he did not return home.
Professional cellist Lara from Kyiv was on tour when the war begun. At the request of her parents, who witnessed the horrors of the war, she did not return to Ukraine.
Bank employ Valentina, from Kyiv, received a call from a relative at 9 am on the 24th saying that tanks were heading to Kyiv. She packed the essentials for 3 days and left for Germany, during their departure, the shelling of Kyiv began. They thought they would return in 3 days but the return never happened; their relatives remained in the Sumy region.
Tanya and her parents are from the Kherson region. The family owned a grocery store, which was completely destroyed after the explosion of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station.
Medical worker Anna was leaving with her son on an evacuation train when the Zaporizhzhia Airport was being bombed. They took only documents and essential items, leaving behind elderly relatives. ‘It feels like you’re in a war movie.’
Descendant sailor Vitaliy was at sea when his parents remained in the occupied Kherson. He was able to evacuate them after the city was liberated. His mother’s phone still has an air raid alert application, which is still working.
Tanya is a professional actress from Kyiv. Predicting the war 10 days before it started, her husband sent her and their child to Poland. He joined them one day before the war. Physically, she lives here, but mentally, she is there with her friends and relatives.
Medical worker Larisa and her daughter were evacuated from Kyiv under the advance of the Russian troops. They were taken to Poland with their dog, then to Italy, then to France, and from there to the USA.
The world we live in has become smaller. Today what happens in any part of the world affects us all. Ukraine has been a good example of this affect. The war in Ukraine has affected many people in all parts of the world. Refugees from all over the Ukraine have come to the United States.
They are educated and hard workers who seem lost because of the language barrier and employment restraints. A Doctor is cleaning houses, an audio engineer is unable to work in his profession and the list goes on and on. All came only seeking shelter and safety for their families. The confusion that their resettlement has brought about has affected their families in every way.
I am photographing these families by including a familiar object which represents stability and safety they had in their own country. It may be a part of their work life, their home life or family that has been lost to the war. Refugees have been photographed many times, but few photographs show them through an object that link them to previous life. I have contacted and helped many Ukrainian refugee families and in just simple talking with them realized how much their lives have been torn apart because of their resettlement