Where to Buy Photography Prints to Support Ukraine
With President Vladimir Putin showing no signs of calling off Russia’s war on Ukraine, photographers from all across the globe have been banding together to offer their support to those on the ground. And while it was difficult to know where to direct donations when attacks first began on February 24, the international photo community has assembled a whole array of options that you can support by buying prints. Like East London’s May Print before them, some, including Darwin magazine and Metro Imaging, are keeping prices at a relatively affordable €50. The Munich-based nonprofit and exhibition space NEU Project, on the other hand, is charging €125 so they can divvy up the proceeds between three groups: Voices of Children, which is providing psychological and psychosocial support to Ukrainian youth; Libereco, which is distributing medicine and bandages and coordinating evacuations; and Vostok-SOS, which has been aiding Ukrainian war victims since 2014. As the conflict escalates—while the overall death toll remains unknown, Russia’s recent attack on Mariupol claimed more than 2,500 lives—the need for aid grows direr by the day. Here, a running list of all the print sales on a mission to help.
Daniel Jack Lyons, Tanya, 2015.
“I met Tanya in 2015, when this photo was taken. We stayed in touch, meeting up several times during my trips to Ukraine in the years that followed. When we first met, she was living in Kyiv and working for a clothing designer. Herself a designer and a photographer, she currently lives in Berlin.
“Tanya considers herself the luckiest of her family, as all her loved ones remain in Ukraine. Her mother refuses to leave without her husband, and has been organizing the evacuation of colleagues from other cities. Her father has joined the territorial defense in Kyiv, and her grandfather was visiting Mariupol on the morning of the invasion. She has not heard from him since. In her own words: ‘I am not ready to lose my family—my family is ready to fight for our country. Russia, what are you fighting for?’”
Available for €125 at Pictures for Purpose through March 24, 2022.
Julie Poly, UKRZALIZNYTSIA.
“Inspired by my experience of working as a train conductor, the Ukrzaliznytsia project aims to capture the essence of traveling in Ukrainian trains. Ukrzaliznytsia is also the name of the state railway company. Ukrainian trains have an absolutely unique atmosphere—the railway is a different world, and everyone who gets on board knows its rules. The project depicts certain stereotypes of passengers, as well as my own personal experiences.”
Available for €125 at Pictures for Purpose through March 24, 2022.
Peter Langer, The Home of Blue and Yellow, 2020.
“I shot this image in July 2020 on an almost empty airplane. 10,000 meters above Earth—somewhere between Paris and Berlin—I noticed this golden shadow circling its way around the blue window, as if it were trying to fit in. It was a moment of magic; a moment I understood there will always be a light at the end of the tunnel, whether it’s a deadly virus, or an insane dictator destroying a country and threatening the world. I hope the hope dies last.”
Available for €125 at Pictures for Purpose through March 24, 2022.
Inez & Vinoodh, Christy and Dick (New York), 2000.
“In the ‘50s, the austere architectural designs of Balenciaga defined fashion. Then, in 1968, the couture house closed. In 2000, it was revived by designer Nicolas Ghesquière. We photographed this first collection on the streets of New York with Christy Turlington for Nova magazine. Dick—the other half of the work’s title—is the makeup artist Dick Page.”
Available for €125 at Pictures for Purpose through March 24, 2022.
Valentine Bo, Polina & Yasya, Kyiv, 2014.
“Taken in Kyiv, where I have now had to leave my archive behind, this image from 2014 depicts two of my friends, Polina and Yasya.”
Available for €125 at Pictures for Purpose through March 24, 2022.
Rineke Dijkstra, A.V. Fomin Botanical Garden, Kiev, Oekraïne, 21 mei 2006, 2006.
“In 2005-2006, I photographed children and young people in parks across various Western and Eastern European cities. This photo was taken at the Kiev Botanical Garden, one of the largest public parks in the city. It was the month of May and everything was in full bloom. Children—both girls and boys—adorned themselves with self-braided dandelion wreaths.”
Available for €125 at Pictures for Purpose through March 24, 2022.
Daria Svertilova, Polina & Anya, 2016.
“Anya & Polina are one of five couples photographed for the Kuyalnik love-stories project, which I made with my friends Anastasiya Lazurenko and Kristina Podobed in 2016. Kuyalnik is an estuary situated in the south of Ukraine—neither a sea nor a lake, it’s a kind of reservoir. This tiny part of the Black Sea is undoubtedly a unique place. Whilst one of the estuary’s coasts is home to a huge Soviet sanatorium, where old people come for mud baths, the other is a popular site for young people, who organize open-air raves on the wild steppe.”
Available for €125 at Pictures for Purpose through March 24, 2022.
Alec Soth , Maria. Odessa, 2018 .
“In 2018, I photographed portraits in Odessa as part of my project I Know How Furiously Your Heart is Beating. All of these pictures were made in the subject’s home. Even if we didn’t speak the same language, the domestic location made the sessions feel more intimate. Maria seemed particularly sensitive. I learned later that her heart had recently been broken.”
Available for €125 at Pictures for Purpose through March 24, 2022.
Daniel Shea, Gernsbach, 2019.
“Half of my family lives in the Black Forest of Germany. This is a domestic scene from inside one of their homes.”
Available for €125 at Pictures for Purpose through March 24, 2022.
Liv Liberg , britt (blue gloves), 2021 .
“This image is part of the book Sister Sister, published by Art Paper Editions in 2021. I was 10 years old when I started photographing my younger sister, Britt. It was a game between two sisters in which fashion, dressing up, and photography were in line with each other—and where I was in charge. I directed my sister in different settings, over a timeframe of fifteen years, mostly wearing our mother’s clothes.”
Available for €125 at Pictures for Purpose through March 24, 2022.
Olya Oleinic, Pushcha, Kyiv, 2021 .
“As the tram stops, you’ll see a side road with a kiosk. Get some cherries and loads of water: We will stay all day. Take the second turn—or maybe the third—off the street and into the forest. The meandering path will show you the way. You can’t get lost. There are loads of mosquitos though, be prepared. As you walk on, you’ll start hearing the kids. The lake will be on your left. Pick a spot in the shade somewhere near the biggest tree. I’ll see you there in a bit. My image is an ode to friendships, scorching summers, and carefree spirits.”
Available for €125 at Pictures for Purpose through March 24, 2022.
Yang Ji Hoon, Stand with Ukraine, 2022.
“I took this picture because I see a number of similarities between Ukraine and Korea. Korea has been invaded many times in its history, and on each occasion, countless people had little choice but to protect their country on the battlefield. In my mind, human eyes contain and can convey numerous emotions, so with this image, I wanted to express that many ordinary people are supporting Ukraine—emotionally or otherwise—from afar.”
Available for €125 at Pictures for Purpose through March 24, 2022.
Bogdan Shirokov, Liberté.
“I took this photo in the summer of 2021 while working on my personal project, Hermites. It felt appropriate at the time. Whilst freedom is cherished by so many of us, it’s unfortunately sorely lacking in Russia, where I, until recently, was based. Media and culture are heavily restricted, and LGBTQ+ communities are criminalized by the infamous ‘gay propaganda’ law. There’s no freedom to express opinions about the political regime, nor even to express oneself. This is probably why Egor (depicted in the image) put the word on his chest.”
Available for €125 at Pictures for Purpose through March 24, 2022.
Katya Lesiv, Fern, 2021.
“This photo was taken in the Ukrainian Carpathians. Here, nature is spontaneous, mystical. It might fall asleep and reawaken, but it ultimately knows no end. When I made this image, in the fall of 2021, I didn’t realize the extent of the deep connection that I have with her now.”
Available for €125 at Pictures for Purpose through March 24, 2022.
Julia Kafizova, Enjoy the view, 2019.
Available for €50 at NEU Workshop.
Danyil Kotliar, Gleb hiding in the beautiful field, Osessa Ukraine, 2021.
Available for €50 at NEU Workshop.
Daniel Vaysberg, Maidan, 2019.
Available for €50 at NEU Workshop.
Lena Pogrebnaya, Youth (Odesa), 2017.
Available for €50 at NEU Workshop.
Tania & Roman, untitled.
Available for €50 at NEU Workshop.
Diana Lange, Untitled, 2020.
Available for €50 at NEU Workshop.
Anton Belinskiy, untitled.
Available for €50 at NEU Workshop, benefiting Voices of Children, Vostok-SOS, and Libereco, through March 31, 2022.
Daria Svertilova, Temporary Homes 4.
“Dormitories are the only type of social housing which exists in Ukraine nowadays. They were constructed during the Soviet epoch to host students and to offer the freedom of movement in the vast country it used to be. Since that time, buildings and living conditions haven’t changed that much, but Ukraine and its people did. I photograph dormitories because they represent the confrontation of the soviet heritage and the new pro-Western generation. This ambiguity attracts me and it represents the change of mentality in the country which moves towards globalization.
“In 2014, the world heard about The Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine and since then, the Western media were writing about Ukrainian youth through the prism of techno culture, raves, poverty, and war. When I started this project, I wanted to depict the generation born after 2000 as it is. Students who live in dormitories are young, smart, and full of hope. They have just left their families and moved into their first independent housing. They stay in their small rooms for only 3 or 4 years, yet they decorate them with a personal touch. All these buildings which look cold from outside hide diverse rooms that unite soviet interiors and belongings, drawings and posters of each student. Neither family house, nor a rented flat, dormitories are the place of transition from teenage years to an adult life.”
Available for €100 at Art4Ukraine while supplies last.
Simon Roberts, Costa del Crimea 1.
“Yalta is a resort city on the southern coast of the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine, surrounded by the Black Sea. In Communist times it was the playground of the Politburo, with the party faithful rewarded with a week in a sanatorium housed in a former Imperial palace. Thanks to the Yalta Conference in 1945, the city has fashioned an image as a symbolic place of peace and compromise (Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met here to divide the spoils of World War II). In its 1960s heyday, the local population of 100,000 would swell to a million in the summer as Soviets flocked to its spas and beaches. After years of neglect post the collapse of the Soviet Union, when many of the nouveaux riches of ex-Soviet states began going to other European destinations, over the last two decades it has once again become a popular holiday resort for ordinary Ukrainians. In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea, claimed it as their territory and have since escalated military presence on the peninsula.”
Available for €100 at Art4Ukraine while supplies last.
Martin Parr, Yalta, Crimean Peninsula.
“Images from a British photographer Martin Parr who visited Yalta, Ukraine, in summer 1995. At that time, Ukrainian Crimea was still absolutely Soviet, people in the photos look exactly like the ones from the Soviet epoch with lots of interest in all possible western stuff. However, the transformation had already begun and the author captured that vibe.”
Available for €100 at Art4Ukraine while supplies last.
Barry Lewis, Raisa Surnachevskaya.
“Raisa Surnachevskaya was a 79-year-old grandmother living in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. ‘I didn’t like dancing,’ says Raisa. ‘I was too tall. I wanted to be one of those cute little girls that all the boys love. I gave my pilot’s vodka ration to our technicians. My father drank. I preferred chocolate, but most of all I loved volleyball and ice-skating.’ She became a Soviet fighter pilot and squadron commander during World War II, as well as one of the very few pregnant women to have flown in combat.
“‘We didn't know we were special.’
“On a mission with Tamara Pamyatnykh she shot down two Junkers Ju-88 bombers while patrolling a railway junction after a formation of 42 bombers approached. After they each shot down two planes and attempted to ram a third the formation turned around without dropping their payloads on the railways.
“‘Raisa, so tall, so fragile, so beautiful. I watched her from the ground, my face bleeding, thinking she would never come back. Raisa, my ‘wingman’ in the sky above Kastornaya, alone in a swarm of fascist 88s and 217s,’ says former senior lieutenant Tamara Pamyatnykh of the 586th Fighter Regiment.”
Available for €100 at Art4Ukraine while supplies last.
Federico Clavarino, Ukraina Passport 2.
“A passport is an object you use to cross borders, and this work is about living on an edge. These photographs were made in Ukraine shortly before the civil unrest that led to the 2013 protests and the ongoing war in the Donbas region. The work is an attempt to address poetically the symptoms of social tension that the photographer observed in the country at the time, by means of an imagery that shuns the rhetoric of journalism or propaganda in favor of a more intimate, subjective, and sometimes humorous tone. The surreal place that is evoked by these pictures is one suspended between stereotypes of the East and the West, between Soviet nostalgia and the promises of consumerism, between reality and imagination.”
Available for €100 at Art4Ukraine while supplies last.
Federico Clavarino, Ukraina Passport: 3.
Available for €100 at Art4Ukraine while supplies last.
Taras Bychko, Out of Time 2.
“While working on the project ‘Out of Time,’ Taras Bychko traveled in the territory of Ukraine and tried to show the viewer time, that seemed to stop in the ’60-’70-’80s. In these photos, he wants to show another contrasting life of people in spite of dynamic changes: economic, cultural, social. This series reflects the fleeting spirit of the time that has survived in Ukraine. He started shooting this series in 2018 and continues to work on it further.”
Available for €100 at Art4Ukraine while supplies last.
