1 | Diana. Photo from the project "Stolen Spring". Ukraine, Borodyanka | 2023.
Stolen Spring
I live in Bucha and work in Irpin. After the Russian occupation, these cities were destroyed. The military landscape has become my reality and routine. Every day I see people who are restoring their cities, their personal lives from the ruins and looking into the future.
I created a series of photographs in a historical dialogue with images by Polish photographer Michael Nash, who captured how the photographer used a decorative backdrop to mask the ruins of Warsaw during World War II in 1945-1946.
The heroes of my photographs are women who became victims of Russian aggression. The occupation continued in the spring, people who survived this tragic period did not notice how spring passed, how chestnuts and lilies of the valley bloomed, birds flew in. They were deprived not only of their homes, loved ones, work, health, but also part of their lives. IDPs from Donbass and Crimea have a second tragic spring. A stolen spring is a stolen life. Each photo is a personal tragedy, but it is also a life-affirming story of a survivor, a hope that Ukraine will rise from the ruins.
Diana
Diana hoped that the large-scale offensive would soon stop quickly, but events unfolded at lightning speed.Soon Diana saw a red glow from the side of Gostomel because of the fires. The girl decided to leave Borodyanka for the village to her grandmother. At first it was calm there, but Diana felt anxious. Russian troops entered Borodyanka. There began active hostilities. Several high-rise buildings were destroyed by aerial bombs, people were trapped under their debris, most of them died. Diana constantly followed the events. Soon the war reached her village. The girl found herself in the epicenter of war events. The Russians approached the village, and behind the village, Ukrainian troops maintained defense. The fire came from two sides. On March 8, Diana and her mother were able to evacuate to the Lviv region. Due to severe stress, Diana’s body failed and the girl was hospitalized. She often remembers the spring of 2022. Each time these memories open an unhealed wound that will hurt for a long time.