“This is an important photo for me. It expresses the pain and suffering of the women of my country because of the war. Pain and suffering as a path to freedom,” says Ukrainian artist Julia Chumak.
“This image is of a destroyed building that was bombed on March 1 2022 near my apartment. The woman in the photo is Nastia who lives in my city. She left home fleeing from the war.”
Julia Chumak was born in a small mining town in the Donbass region of Ukraine. Now, a photographer and artist, she specialises in fashion portraits, nude and travel photography. The recent war in Ukraine spurred her to begin working as a war photographer, where she is currently working to shine a light on the war and its aftermath in her country. “This is the only thing that makes sense for me to do [right now] when my country is at war,” Chumak says. “I used to take portraits of people and teach at a local photography school, now I collect stories of people whose lives have been broken because of the war.”