This project is an intimate diary of encounters in my studio, a temporary stop in a journey no one chose to take. It is about people from my homeland, Ukraine, who were forced to face the reality of war. These portraits and reflections were created between 2022 and 2024 in Bratislava.
Mothers and children, teenagers and seniors, athletes and people with disabilities came to my studio. Some remained in Slovakia or Austria, others returned to Ukraine, while some continued their journey to other countries. I met them at a moment when life plans collapsed within days and familiar structures disappeared.
The studio became a space detached from the outside world. We sat, talked, and created photographs together. These sessions formed a time capsule, a quiet place where fragments of permanently disrupted lives could be held for a moment, before the new reality fully settled.
The project grew out of more than seventy photo sessions and thousands of photographs. A carefully edited selection was published as a photobook in October 2025.
Selected recognition and exhibitions
PhMuseum Photography Grant 2025 (shortlist)
Hellerau Photography Award 2025 (finalist)
Rotterdam Photo 2025, Single Image
Silver Winner, Tokyo International Foto Awards 2022
Selected images have been featured in Ukraine: Love+War (FotoEvidence, 2024), UCS Scandinavia (2025), and Fresh Eyes (GUP Magazine, 2024), and exhibited across Europe.
