Portraits of Femen activists – a group of feminists from Kiev, who protest topless against social injustice and the discrimination of women.

I grew up in a big city, and perhaps that was the reason why I was always intrigued by small community life in the country. A certain Boiko village in the Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains became the place where my ideas about idyllic rural life materialised. What I looked for were the ambience and motifs that […]

The Autonomous Republic of Crimea has only been a part of the Ukraine since 1954, when it was transferred from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR. Before, Crimea had been conquered and controlled by outside powers repeatedly throughout its history. Each invader left a visible mark. Today, Crimea is the homeland of the Crimean […]

Because of lack of economic incentive and government support, every year almost 300 villages disappear from the map of the Ukraine. Young people leave their villages to move to the big cities and towns in search of a good job – which is a generalised trend now in post-Soviet countries. I found the last people […]

Antratsyt is an average town in eastern Ukraine, filled with coal mine water problems and Russian nostalgia. The majority of the population live on the verge of poverty, without any chance of a better life. The average salary is 1000 hrivnas (around 100 USD). Some people try to make more money by holding several jobs […]

After the economic crisis hit the Ukraine, the monthly salaries of coal miners dropped to 100 dollars. Before the crisis, miners’ salaries averaged around 900 dollars. Ukraine is among the deadliest places in the world to work as a coal miner, with 75% of its pits officially classified as dangerous. Since Ukraine became independent in […]