“Oleksandr, a Ukrainian soldier from Kharkiv, Ukraine, revisits the site in the outskirts of Kharkiv where he and his team fought off a Russian platoon from entering the city. Though the view appears serene, Oleksandr must watch his every step as the field he walks on is riddled with unexploded ordinances from the fighting that took place weeks earlier and that continues today,” says the photographer Stanton Sharpe. “Scattered amongst the trees on the ridge over the horizon, Oleksandr’s team surveys the makeshift base where Russian soldiers had settled before the battle.”
Stanton Sharpe is a documentary photographer and photojournalist. His main objective with photography is simple—to better understand humanity and to offer others underrepresented perspectives in our world. He works where he is most curious, and his work has taken him to various regions across Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, the United States and Europe.
Sharpe hopes that his work will encourage others to push beyond their personal boundaries and explore the world’s diverse environments, as he believes that empathy and acceptance can only be found through the courage to foster experience, relationship and education.