Photographer Alina Smutko talks about the first day of full-scale invasion
Photographer Alina SmutkoWas in Kyiv on February 24, 2022. She recalls that she did not expect such a development of events, and only made up the alarming suitcase because of the many requests of friends. Alina learned about the beginning of a full-scale war at four in the morning, after the first explosions in Kyiv.
“I was called by my boss, with whom we worked together in the digital department of Social Services, and the work began. My responsibilities included digital security of Social Networks and I was in contact with our branches all day in different cities, including Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Sumy. On the first day of the war, I hardly took pictures,” recalls Alina Smutko.
In the evening, the photographer collected things and a camera and went on the tram to the news editorial office. The journalists of the department needed help and all employees of the Public Service were involved in monitoring the events.
“I just went outside with my camera at some point. Then I did not imagine how much harm this or that type of weapon can cause and how safe it is to be on the street in general. My colleagues and I ran out for coffee in a coffee shop that still worked on Khreshchatyk and Maidan Nezalezhnosti, - Alina says. - I took several photos of the deserted Khreshchatyk and Maidan. There was a feeling that these could be my last photos of Kiev.”
The following days, the photographer communicated with her family, who were in another city, often went to the station to accompany friends. “Then it was possible to shoot everywhere, no one had yet required permits. So I filmed a lot at the station. Then she went to Poltava, to her family. We arranged storage at home, drew up documents, refueled the car. It was disturbing to leave my son, even with his parents. I tried to work in the city, but the people around me were as screwed up as possible and called the police just because I passed them with a camera. I simply refused to go out with my camera on the street until I returned to Kiev in the first days of March,” Smutko says.
Alina Smutko's work changed dramatically after the full-scale Russian invasion. Previously, she worked on sports filming and long-term social projects. For example, she made a large photo project about parents raising children with disabilities, about their life during quarantine. “I shot a lot of sports, a lot - that was probably half of all my shooting in general,” recalls the photographer. A few months after the start of the Great War, Alina Smutko began shooting mostly current news.
“Last summer we worked on big themes that took several weeks to shoot. However, I returned to current news again because I got a job in an international photo agency,” says Smutko. She adds that she does not continue any project she worked on before a full-scale war. An exception was the story about teams playing American football in Ukraine. “I suggested to colleagues from “Public. Sports” to go with me and see what the players of this League are doing now. A lot of guys left the sport and joined the ranks of the Armed Forces. Some, unfortunately, have already died, - says Alina Smutko. “It was very important for me to return to these people again, to tell about their new important work.”
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Bildeditor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Author of the text: Katya Moskalyuk
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Read also:9 Ukrainian Photographers Tell and Show How the Great Invasion Began
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