Two years of full-scale Russian invasion in 195 photos. The Ukrainians have prepared an English-language photobook “How we walk through the fire” with key shots of the war. The publication included all pictures from the English-language special issue of Reporters magazine, as well as new photos of important events of the Russian-Ukrainian war. All images were taken from February 2022 to February 2024. This is the first book published by The Ukrainians Publishing.
“Our magazine was created in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. So part of the circulation was directed to diplomatic institutions, the magazine began to appear in various foreign politicians. He got into the diplomatic car of Ukrzaliznytsia. The publication received good reviews, it is in demand. Therefore, we had the idea to publish a photobook for the second anniversary of the war, but already with an additional selection of photos. There was such a request,” explains Danylo Pavlov, photo editor of the photobook “How we walk through the fire”.
The photobook presents photos of more than 40 Ukrainian documentarians. Someone provided specific photos, and someone - access to his own archive, where Daniel had to find exactly the right frames to fill the book.
On the cover of the edition, the photo was taken from the night vision device by Alexander Popenko. Danilo says he tried to choose a difficult frame for the cover, but one that would “hold the intrigue and everything else would unfold inside.” “I wanted it to be as veiled as possible. But at the same time, from a visual point of view, it looked both beautiful and strong,” explains the photo editor.
Danylo says that he tried to fill the book with different photos so that it did not seem too tragic or concentrated exclusively “on arrival” and ruins.” The photo editor sought to strike a balance that would encompass important events and have an interesting visual appearance that would make the viewer stop and look deeper.
Therefore, the publication covers all the important aspects of the Russian invasion: military and civilian personnel, from training, and from burials, from the Verkhovna Rada, from the Ukrzaliznytsia train, shelling, blackouts, etc.
“The photobook is made with such a concept that it is possible to understand and understand the chronology of certain events. This chronology, in principle, I was engaged in and thought about how to make it so that it was sufficiently spread over these two years. So, for example, if we open a book, the first thing we see is a photograph on the turnpike: this is the attack of the Russians on the Kharkiv region, and right next to the sign on the Kharkov bypass road lies a dead Russian. The second frame is an already destroyed air defense facility in Mariupol. That is, the beginning of the book is the events of the first day of the invasion - February 24, - says Danylo Pavlov. “On the same day we see a huge crust of cars on Beresteysky Avenue in Kyiv. This is followed by footage of people preparing to defend themselves. Hedgehogs in Zhytomyr region. These are all the events of the first days. In particular, Max Dondyuk's famous photo of the evacuation from Irpen, which got on the cover of the American Time magazine, is also presented in the photo book. Then there are pictures of Ukrainians training to throw Molotov cocktails, the first dead, military portraits, footage from the Ukrainian-Polish border. A shot of the Mariupol delivery man Yevgeny Maloletka, who was shot by the Russians, who became the winner of World Press Photo. Pictures from military graves in Lviv. And the photobook ends with a shot of Julia Kochetova. This is a very good portrait of a military man from training.”
“How we walk through the fire“ was printed in hardcover. It can be purchased in Kiev in bookstores “Sense“and “Compilation“, and also orderon the site. Shipping is available worldwide.
Material created with support The Free Word Foundation.
.png)
