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Roman Pilipey spoke about life in China and filming in countries closed to the world, about returning to Ukraine and working during the war, as well as how to remain emotionally stable when working with sensitive topics.
Roman Pilipey is a Ukrainian documentary photographer who photographed the Revolution of Dignity and the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war in eastern Ukraine ten years ago. In 2017, he moved to China, where he eventually became the head of the ERA photo agency. Roman has photographed in Tibet, documented protests in Hong Kong, and life in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. In 2020, Roman covered the pandemic in China, particularly in Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus. For his photo reports from China, Roman was named “Photographer of the Year” POY Asia 2022 and twice in 2019 and 2022, and was shortlisted for Photographer of the Year by The Guardian.
At the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, Roman was in Beijing, but immediately decided to return to Ukraine. He continues to photograph the Russian-Ukrainian war and its aftermath, working with the international news agency AFP. His work has been published by international media outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, Die Zeit, Le Monde, and many others.
The Olympics, coronavirus, and war
Roman Pylypii has been working as a photojournalist for over ten years. He began his professional career photographing protests during the Revolution of Dignity. “At the beginning of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, many young photographers appeared, many new names. They did not choose to work as photojournalists in a conflict zone; the war simply came to our doorstep. A similar situation occurred during the Maidan—I just grabbed my camera and went out to take pictures,” says Roman Pylypii. He photographed all the key events of the Revolution of Dignity and then went to photograph the war in Donbas. He worked in Ukraine until 2016, and then decided to relocate and try something new.
“I was tired and decided to go somewhere far away to get a really new experience. There were opportunities to work as a photojournalist in Europe, covering politics and sports, but I wanted to create stories,” says Pylypii. ”One day, while shooting in Kyiv, I got a call from the EPA photo agency offering me a job in China. I made the decision in 30 seconds and have spent more than five years in this country.” Roman Pylypii jokes that at first he knew nothing about China except that it had a communist party. The photographer has traveled all over China: he photographed protests in Hong Kong, life in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and Tibet, as well as the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan. “It was one of the best decisions that really changed me. China turned out to be very interesting — both the places and the people. It's an environment where you can develop and constantly see something new. I became the head of the EPA bureau in China and planned to spend another two years in the country,” says Roman Pilipey.
At the beginning of 2022, Roman Pilipey was photographing the Olympic Games in Beijing. Then, according to the rules, he was quarantined for several weeks. “I was talking to a colleague on the phone and she casually mentioned that the news was reporting the start of a war in Ukraine. When I found out about the full-scale Russian invasion, I immediately decided to return home,” the photographer sums up. His boss at the EPA did not want to let him go right away, and the trip to Ukraine took three days, but on February 28, Roman arrived home. Since then, he has been working in Ukraine, covering Russian aggression and the consequences of the war in Ukraine.
Protests, language, and censorship
While working in China, Roman Pilipey lacked knowledge of the language. He had to work either through an interpreter or explain everything in English. Another big problem was censorship. “It was difficult to work because someone was constantly watching me. I was always ready to defend my right to film. I might even make a book of photos with close-ups of hands trying to cover my camera,” says Pylypii. He filmed protesters in Hong Kong who compared the events in China to the Revolution of Dignity. Roman says that at first, the police behaved very politely, warning journalists about possible arrests of participants and not hitting anyone on the head with batons. Over time, the state's actions became harsher, the protests gradually subsided, and many people were arrested.
Roman Pilipey recalls a vacation he spent in Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region in northern China. There, people in various cars followed the photographer, following him everywhere without hesitation. “In China, the situation with censorship sometimes reached the point of absurdity. Once, my colleagues and I went to photograph a sensitive story about an elderly man who was opposing the government. He was dying, lying in a hospital,” Roman Pylypii recounts. ‘We saw that we were being watched by Chinese ’titushki' (thugs hired by the government to intimidate protesters), so we caught a taxi to get away from them. These guys just walked up to our driver and told him not to go anywhere until they got a car too.”
In terms of censorship, there is a huge difference between Ukraine and China – it's not even worth comparing. However, at the beginning of the ATO, it was easier and freer for journalists to work in Ukraine than it is now.
“If you had personal connections with the military, if they trusted you, that was your ticket to their positions,” Roman emphasizes. “Now it's much harder to work because of the greater risks: ten years ago, there were Grad rockets and mortars, but now there are many more types of weapons.”
Photo agencies, competitions, and stories
After eight years working for the ERA photo agency, Roman Pilipey decided to leave his position as a staff photojournalist. He has shot for Getty Images and now actively collaborates with the international agency AFP and is published in international media such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, Die Zeit, Le Monde, and many others.
“I took a lot of photos during the Revolution of Dignity and offered my photos to the EPA agency. I just went up to the photo editor and offered my photos. I was consistently rejected,” recalls Roman Pilipey. ”When I was photographing the events on Hrushevsky Street in Kyiv, I saw that there were no EPA photographers there. So I went to their central office to show them my photos. At first, the editors asked to see the photos on my camera. They were interested in the pictures, so they copied them onto their computer. After that, I started working more closely with the agency. I went to Donbas to cover the events there for a few days, but ended up staying for several months. The point is that you have to offer your own topics and photos and show them to photo editors. Right now, a very effective way to reach photo editors is to have an Instagram account.
To document events on the front line, you need a good team, a car, equipment, free funds, or commissions from a reputable media outlet. However, many topics related to the consequences of the full-scale Russian invasion can be covered outside the battlefield, even in Lviv or Uzhhorod. The main thing is to find a good story. Roman explains that visually, but not in terms of courage or safety, it is easier to work on the front line because there is a lot going on, there are soldiers and military equipment. For stories about the consequences of war, the visual language is more complex. “There are many social and sensitive topics that can be documented. It is important to be able to open your eyes — this applies not only to newcomers to the profession, but also to experienced photographers. It is worth looking at the work of colleagues, developing and constantly learning,” says Pilipey.
Roman emphasizes that photo agencies are now interested not only in news formats, but also in long-term photo stories. Photographers should learn to select from their shots, because you can miss really valuable photos. “Of course, you don't need to send all the photos you've taken — then it's immediately obvious that the photographer doesn't know what to choose. On the other hand, five photos won't be enough either, because you might miss some stronger shots,” explains Roman. He adds that it is worth submitting your work to various photo contests. Keep in mind that winning contests is often a subjective opinion of the jury. However, preparing for them helps to structure and compose frames into a story, and winning will make the photographer visible to others.
“Photography will not stop the war. I don't believe that.”
In Vietnam, photographer Nick Ut photographed a group of children who, after being hit by napalm bombs, ran to government positions, frightened and burned. During the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, many photographs have been taken, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to impress or move anyone with them. “Today, photography can change attitudes toward a situation, provoke thought, inform, but it won't change the course of the war,” says Pylypii. ”So if people refuse to be photographed or my shots could put their safety at risk, I won't take them.”
Roman says that everyone in Ukraine is affected by the war in one way or another. “Sport, especially swimming, helps me recharge. Water relieves stress, negativity, and anxiety,” explains Roman Pylypii. “I often take my tent and go to the mountains, sometimes with my wife and friends, and sometimes on a solo trip. Once I went to the mountains for two weeks, turned off my cell phone, read books, bathed in rivers... I would advise everyone to find something they enjoy doing and not live only for photography.”
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