When the internationally renowned photojournalist Anastasia Taylor-Lind found herself in Kyiv in 2014, little did she know that she wold end up for the next eight years documenting the extraordinary changes that would encompass the country.
Arriving for a project that she never began, she found herself at the centre of the events that would topple the then pro Russian Government after it chose not to sign an agreement that would have integrated the country more closely with the European Union and would result in a pro Western Government
Pro-Russian separatist activity spread to eastern Ukrainian cities like Donetsk and Lugansk in the Donbass region. This escalated into an armed conflict between the Ukrainian government and the separatist forces of the self-declared Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, whose demands range from self-rule to union with Russia and then Russia took Crimea.
The West largely ignored the conflictand wold only sit up in February of this year when Vladimir Putin’s forces attempted to take control of the rest of the country
But Anastasia never ignored it and now a new photographic exhibition opening at Manchester’s Imperial War Museum North documents both those times and the more recent horrors that have occured in the country
During this eight-year period, when the attention of much of the world’s media turned elsewhere, Anastasia continued to work in Ukraine, documenting ordinary citizens whose lives have been uprooted by the threat of the frontline, the reality of displacement, and the pain of separation from loved ones.
Ukraine: Photographs from the Frontline presents her work in three sections,
focusing on the 2014 protests in Kyiv; the ongoing conflict for individuals living in eastern Ukraine; and the current Russian invasion with works which, taken as recently as June 2022,reveal the threat to the future of an entire country.
Alongside these images, the exhibition includes perspectives from those on both sides of the camera. During her time in Ukraine, Anastasia worked alongside long-term collaborator and friend, Ukrainian journalist Alisa Sopova whose voice is heard throughout the exhibition.
Quotes from people Anastasia photographed, such as sisters Lyudmyla and Nelya Tkachenko who fled Ukraine in early 2022, also reflect on the harsh realities of the war, bringing to life the human stories of a handful of individuals within this conflict which has impacted millions.
Anastasia Taylor-Lind says: “I’ve been reporting on the effects of violence on
ordinary people’s everyday lives in Ukraine since 2014. I’m grateful to IWM for giving these
photographs a space where they can reach an audience far away from the war. I hope they can lluminate the ways, sometimes small and sometimes big, in which Ukrainians continue to live, adapt and build futures, despite violence and instability. IWM has curated years of work into an edit offering a snapshot of the many stories I’ve witnessed that document individual courage and optimism in the face of great challenges.”
Ukraine: Photographs from the Frontline is a touring exhibition running from 14 October 2022 – 2 January 2023 at IWM North and
