A photographer found Ukrainian refugees scattered around Europe and took their portrait in front of 10-foot-tall photos depicting what has happened to their home country due to the Russian invasion.
Photographer Danila Tkachenko, who made the powerful project, is from Russia but tells PetaPixel he was forced to leave his home country for vocalizing his opposition to the conflict.
“I openly supported Ukraine and made several anti-war actions in Moscow for which the Russian authorities put me on the wanted list and falsified a criminal case against me,” he says. “They persecuted my family and friends. I managed to leave Russia and seek political asylum in Europe.”
Tkachenko has continued to shine a light on the large-scale invasion of Ukraine by creating the photo project he calls Inversion.
First, he enlisted nine photojournalists who have been covering the war and exhibited their photos in Milan. Then 12 photographs were selected to be installed on a 9.1 by 12.3 foot (2.8 by 3.76 meter) aluminum frame to act as a contrast to the peaceful European cities that the displaced Ukrainians are living in.
“I made this project to draw the attention of Europeans to Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, as I believe that the future of peace in Europe depends on the outcome of this war,” Tkachenko tells PetaPixel over email.
“I wanted to convey with this project that the distance between war and peaceful European life is not really that great.
“Today in the accelerating flow of news and events this may not be visible, so it was important for me to bring the horrific reality back into the public eye.”
The photos were shot in Berlin, Paris, Rome, Venice, Prague, and other European cities. He often only had a short time to shoot the photo until police arrived and asked them to move on.
“I did not make permission for shooting, we brought the photo to the place I chose beforehand and quickly made a portrait.”
More of Tkachenko’s work can be found on his website and Facebook.
Image credits: Photographs by Danila Tkachenko.
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