俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭後，移居美國的烏克蘭攝影師Yelena Yemchuk，在Instagram連續發佈三張身穿軍服的年輕女孩照片，她如此寫道：請不要讓這些孩子捲入戰爭，請讓我們美麗的國家烏克蘭擁有和平（Please don’t let these children be in a war please let there be peace in our beautiful, peaceful country Ukraine）。
說起著名的反戰照片，許多人會想起法國攝影師Marc Riboud的《鮮花與刺刀 The Flower and the Bayonet》。在Yelena Yemchuk發佈的照片中，身穿軍服的女孩笑容燦爛地望向鏡頭（另一位則流露著堅定的眼神），與戰場上的殘酷無情形成強烈的對比，同樣帶出反戰的訊息。
Yelena Yemchuk在1970年生於烏克蘭首都基輔，11歲時與家人移居美國，14歲生日時爸爸贈送她一部相機，自從對攝影感興趣。她曾為美國搖滾樂隊The Smashing Pumpkins的《Zero》和《Thirty-Three》等歌曲執導MV，也為《iD》及《Vogue》等雜誌拍攝時尚攝影作品。雖然移居美國多年，但她仍心繫烏克蘭，每年回去故鄉，2011年出版的首本攝影集《Gidropark》，正記錄人們在基輔聶伯河畔的公園度過夏日，近年則籌備另一本攝影集《Odessa》——位於黑海西北岸的烏克蘭港灣都市。
The images of young girls in military uniforms that photographer Yelena Yemchuk posted on Instagram impressed the world. She wrote: Please don’t let these children be in a war, please let there be peace in our beautiful, peaceful country Ukraine.
Speaking of famous anti-war photos, Marc Riboud’s “The Flower and the Bayonet” is probably the first thing that came to our mind. In Yelena Yemchuk’s images, girls in a military uniform look at the camera with a bright smile, which contrasts sharply with the brutality on the battlefield and carries an anti-war message.
Yelena Yemchuk was born in Kyiv in 1970. She immigrated to the United States with her family when she was 11 years old. On her 14th birthday, her father gave her a camera, and she became interested in photography ever since. Yelena first gained public attention by directing music videos for The Smashing Pumpkins and later created fashion photography for magazines such as iD and Vogue.
The photographer keeps visiting her home country every year. Her first photo book “Gidropark,” published in 2011, documented people are spending summers in the parks near the Dnieper River in Kyiv. She also made two short films and a photobook in Odessa, a Ukrainian port city on the northwest coast of the Black Sea.
烏克蘭女士兵、基輔教堂合唱團、頓巴斯地區的小男孩，當俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭後，現居烏克蘭的英國藝術家Mark Neville陸續發佈過去數年在當地拍攝的照片。2015年，他開始記錄烏克蘭人的生活，包括Odessa海灘的度假者、匈牙利邊境的羅姆人社區，以及生活在烏克蘭東部前線的平民和士兵。深深被這片土地吸引的他，2020年更從倫敦移居烏克蘭，更投入地記錄這個東歐國度，然而他鏡頭下的烏克蘭人，這刻或許現在正面臨著流離失所或不同程度的威脅。
早在五年前開始，他已籌備攝影集《Stop Tanks With Books》，希望透過影像及文字改變人們對戰爭的看法。此書匯集80張烏克蘭人的照片，也收錄烏克蘭小說家Lyuba Yakimchuk書寫關於衝突的文字。在攝影集即將推出之際，俄軍侵略了烏克蘭，他於是準備將其中750本寄給世界各地有影響力的人士，既帶出反戰的訊息，同時希望國際社會幫助烏克蘭，以阻止俄羅斯的進一步入侵。
A female soldier, Kyiv church choirs, a little boy in the Donbas region, British artist Mark Neville has successively posted Ukrainian portraitures after Russia invaded Ukraine. Mark started documenting life in Ukraine in 2015, devotedly photographing holidaymakers on the beach of Odessa, the Roma communities on the Hungarian border, soldiers and civilians living on the frontline in Eastern Ukraine. Mark was deeply attracted by the nation and moved to Ukraine from London In 2020.
Five years ago, he prepared the photo book “Stop Tanks With Books,” hoping to change people’s view of war through images and words. The book brought together 80 of his Ukrainian photographs and short stories about the conflict from Ukrainian novelist Lyuba Yakimchuk.
With the Russian troops invading Ukraine, many Ukrainians face displacement or death threats. Mark is sending out 750 complimentary copies of the book to influential people worldwide. The book not only brings out anti-war messages but also calls on the international community to support Ukraine and help deter further Russian intrusion urgently.
