Any participation in a photo contest, regardless of the results, contributes to a photographer’s professional growth. For Ukrainian photographers, it is also an opportunity to tell an international audience about the Russian–Ukrainian war and its consequences—and to be heard. This year, Roman Pylypei was named Photojournalist of the Year in the 2024 Photojournalist of the Year — National category by the National Press Photographers Association; Olena Hrom became the overall winner of the Xposure International Photography Awards in the United Arab Emirates, where Oleksandr Rupeta also won in the Independent Freelance Photojournalist Award category. How did these Ukrainian documentary photographers manage to secure these international accolades?
Roman Pylypei
Documentary photographer Roman Pylypei took first place in the prestigious “Photojournalist of the Year — National” category. He submitted a portfolio of 40 works he produced for Getty Images and AFP. The photographer worked on the images throughout 2023. All of them are about the war.
“About the wounded, about the rehabilitation of Ukrainian military and civilians. That story was called ‘Healing Wounds.’ I also submitted a story about burials of soldiers, civilians, and children titled ‘Grief and Loss.’ This is what every Ukrainian is living through now. People die every day. I also added to the portfolio a story from Kherson about the consequences of the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant. The fourth story showed Ukrainians’ lives under constant shelling—photos collected from different corners of Ukraine,” Roman says.
Roman believes he was able to win first place thanks to a well-structured portfolio, because what wins is the integrity of all the photo stories together. He also emphasizes that it’s worth paying great attention to the texts as well.
Hrushevskoho Street during the Revolution of Dignity. Kyiv, 2014. Photo by Roman Pylypei
Roman regularly takes part in various photo contests; this is already his second win at the National Press Photographers Association. In 2014, his photograph from the Revolution of Dignity took third place in the single-image category. He believes that every submission is still experience, where you can learn from your own mistakes:
“When someone else wins, I always look at and analyze their work—their approach to building a portfolio and to the text component.”
Roman reminds us that the war in Ukraine has been going on for 10 years, and the third year of the full-scale invasion has already begun—which is why it is necessary to keep drawing the world’s attention to what is happening in our country. Winning photo contests—or simply participating—is, first and foremost, a chance for him to remind an international audience that “the war continues, and it is very far from being over.”
“Of course, any recognition is also motivation to work more. It’s like encouragement. But I believe photo contests are not some measure of talent or achievement—it’s all subjective. Every year, very interesting projects worthy of awards don’t win,” Roman notes.
Olena Hrom
Xposure International Photography Awards is one of the world’s largest photo-and-film festivals, where Ukrainian documentary photographer Olena Hrom received the grand prize for her project “Stolen Spring”. For the exhibition, the organizers selected two of Olena’s photographs, and one of them was awarded the festival’s main prize.
Olena Hrom lives in Bucha and works in Irpin. The wartime landscape has become her reality and everyday life. She created a series in a historical dialogue with images by Polish photographer Michael Nash, who used decorative backdrops to mask the ruins of Warsaw during World War II in 1945–1946.
“The protagonists of my photographs are women who became victims of Russian aggression. The occupation lasted, and in spring, people who lived through that tragic period didn’t notice how spring passed—how chestnuts and lilies of the valley bloomed, how birds returned. They lost not only their home, loved ones, work, and health, but also a part of their lives,” Olena Hrom explains. “Each photograph is a personal tragedy, but it is also a life-affirming story of someone who survived. It is hope that Ukraine will rise from the ruins.”
The international photography and film award is open to photographers of all levels—from amateurs to professionals. Xposure International Photography Awards 2023–2024 was organized by the Sharjah Government Media Bureau; it received more than 25,000 submissions from 190 countries, including China, India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Italy, Brazil, and Egypt.
“It wasn’t difficult to apply to the contest—just the standard procedure: bio, uploading photographs, and a project description,” Olena says.
Jury members paid special attention to photographs that address pressing global issues such as war, migration, ecology, feminism, and racial conflicts.
“The topic of the war in Ukraine was quite strongly highlighted and shown by photographers from Ukraine and other countries. I’m very glad that thanks to my photographs I was able to talk about the war and bring this topic to the fore in the UAE. This is an important step in cultural diplomacy,” Olena says. “Virtually all top UAE media covered the festival and wrote that Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi presented the grand prize to a Ukrainian photographer for an image that tells the story of the consequences of the war in Ukraine.”
The local outlet Emirates News Agency wrote about the Ukrainian photographer’s win: “The grand prize went to Olena Hrom of Ukraine for an emotionally compelling photograph. This deeply moving work earned the jury’s respect and attention, serving as a testament to the photographer’s ability to capture resilience and hope.”
Olena believes that cultural events such as festivals or exhibitions create social solidarity and cohesion.
“During the full-scale war, we all could feel that culture truly is a second front. Presenting Ukraine to the world is a tremendous challenge and responsibility,” she emphasizes.
Oleksandr Rupeta
Documentary photographer Oleksandr Rupeta won the Best Independent Freelance Photojournalist category at the Xposure Photography Award 2024 for his series “The Other Days of Life”.
“The photos in the series were collected from different reportages over roughly a year. I chose images so that the series would look harmonious and cohesive together. The idea was to tell the story of the war from a slightly different angle, so that you feel a certain authorial viewpoint, not just a statement of fact,” Oleksandr explains.
He believes that winning contests is a subjective matter, the number of prize places is limited, and with a large number of projects, you have to reject something that is no less well shot. However, he emphasizes—like his colleagues—that it is an opportunity to talk about the war in Ukraine.
Oleksandr Rupeta applied to this contest for the second time:
“The first time was a few years ago; back then I passed several stages of selection but didn’t make it to the nominees.” To take part in the Xposure Photography Award, you need to have a press ID. He recommends preparing a description for the series that both explains the photos and justifies the choice of category. “As far as I know from other contests, at the final stages of selection, significant attention is paid to the accompanying text,” Oleksandr emphasizes.
As a reminder, the UAPP continues to support photographers’ creative ideas and to promote the active development of documentary photographers. Applications are open until 25 March for a grant from The Aftermath Project (apply here). The Aftermath Project co-founder Sara Terry, together with photojournalist Joseph Sywenkyj, who won in 2022, held a joint Zoom meeting for Ukrainian photographers, where they talked about the specifics of applying and shared lifehacks on how to present your story convincingly so that it wins. The nonprofit organization offers photographers from around the world a $25,000 grant to create a documentary project about the aftermath of armed conflict.
Credits:
Topic researcher, text author: Vira Labych
Literary editor: Yuliia Futei
Photo editor: Viacheslav Ratynskyi
