Alexander Chekmenev (b. 1969) has been documenting life in Ukraine since the 1990s. His work
has been featured in the New York Times TIME Magazine The Guardian and many other
international newspapers and magazines. In Faces of War he focuses on the lives of the
Ukrainian people and the fate of individual members of the population in the face of the
Russian war of aggression. With a profound sensitivity Chekmenev portrays people braving the
war as everyday life goes on working in makeshift soup kitchens seeking shelter from the
ongoing attacks in subway tunnels or actively trying to help their fellow human beings. These
emotive images are taken in the dark the photographer illuminates the faces and hands of his
subjects using only a flashlight. While one can sense the war and its effects in the dark
background the lighting brings to the fore what is most important to the photographer: "For me
the people always come first. The country is made up of people and I want to make visible each
and every one of them and honor them through my photographs" says Alexander Chekmenev.
