The more footage from Ukraine’s streets I see, the more I feel that street photography makes sense.
I wrote this text on the 27th of February, 2022. My heart is broken when I see debris on the streets of Ukrainian cities like Kyiv or Kharkiv. I was in Kyiv, I was walking along these streets. It was in the middle of 2013, six months before the Euromaidan started. Now, when I see destroyed buildings of the capital of Ukraine, my heart is bleeding with all other Ukrainian hearts. War is bad. War is not the answer for anything. It is total madness. Killing innocent civilians and destroying buildings will not help anyone. Putin should be punished for it, without a doubt. When I saw footage from Ukraine, I remembered pictures of destroyed Warsaw in 1944 or bombarded Syrian cities. I hope Polish cities won’t experience such scenes again, as happened in 1944. While thinking about all these things, I see that street photography makes sense.
Sooner or later, all pictures made on cities’ streets will become documentaries.
Of course, I know that 90% of my photographs are artistic, not documentary. Still, there are always other 10% that can be considered documentary. They will be valuable within one hundred years due to their informative content. Do street photography, my Dear Friend, not only for your health and well-being. Do it for future generations. I hope Kyiv, Kharkiv, and other Ukrainian cities will be rebuilt sooner than later.
Moreover, I hope that Russian aggression will be end soon. For today, all I can do is donating charities that help Ukrainian refugees. I plan to contribute my money to them every day. Tomorrow I must go to my work at the office. I know that I must be focused on 100% while doing my job. Still, I know it will be hard to do, knowing that Ukrainian cities are being bombarded by Putin’s army. I hate Putin.
