Don’t Worry, I’m Fine

This project is an intimate diary of encounters in my studio, portraits and reflections created between 2022 and 2024 in Bratislava.

It explores the lives of displaced Ukrainians—mothers and children, teenagers and the elderly, athletes and people with disabilities—who have faced the harsh realities of war. Some of my subjects remained in Slovakia, others returned to Ukraine, while some continued their journey to other countries.

In the slightly abstract studio environment—completely detached from the outside world—we sat, talked and created photographs. The sessions represented a kind of time capsule, a quiet space where a few fleeting moments of these permanently disrupted lives could be preserved, memories frozen in a time and place that felt very distant from the new reality that must be reckoned with.

The project is a finalist of PhMuseum 2025 Photography Grant, Portraits – Hellerau Photography Award 2025, and Silver Winner of Tokyo International Foto Awards (2022). Selected images have been featured in publications such as Ukraine: Love+War (2024, FotoEvidence) and Fresh Eyes (2024, GUP Magazine). The project was exhibited in various cities of Slovakia (2022).