“This is a portrait of my wife, Agatha, taken on February 24, 2023. In 2022, in the first hours of a full-scale invasion, we took portraits of each other in the kitchen, not knowing what lay ahead. In a year, I decided to retake these photos a year after to see how we have changed. My photo book We Stay, a chronicle of the first year of full-scale war, includes both pairs of pictures.”
Polina Polikarpova
“This picture is from a documentary series taken during my two-week stay in Kalush, Ivano-Frankivsk region, after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. It was the most stressful time for me: I left Kyiv and found shelter with my boyfriend’s parents, but my mother still remained in Kharkiv, my hometown, 30 km from the Russian border. When, after eight days under shelling, she finally evacuated, even here in relatively safe Kalush, she felt disoriented and exhausted. She could only sleep with her face covered with a sweater because, in Kharkiv, she had to spend the night alone in a basement in complete darkness. After her arrival, I finally felt better.”
Sasha Kurmaz
