Lampoon, A Russian rocket flying over Rupeta's parents’ house. Photography Oleksandr Rupeta
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Shooting the war as part of daily life – Ukrainian photographer Oleksandr Rupeta

In conversation with Ukrainian photographer Oleksandr Rupeta, as he navigates daily life in Ukraine, his reaction to the war and the fragility of civilization

Forgotten places, forgotten people: Ukrainians’ daily life

From Russian-Ukrainian frontline reportage to the soviet bunkers in Albania; from the secret life of the LGBTQ community in China to the forgotten villages of the Carpathians: Oleksandr Rupeta’s photography reveals the daily life of people and places. His photos have appeared in The New York Times, The GuardianThe EconomistTime, ForbesNational Geographic Traveler, and many others. Rather than being obsessed with finding a unique point of view, Rupeta prefers to follow his feelings, whether the subject is an old woman and her goat living in a remote Ukrainian village, or a Chinese LGBTQ couple.

His parents were artists and worked in graphic design. «I grew up surrounded by paintings and photo magazines». Always passionate about traveling, Rupeta started working for news agencies, and then realized that he wanted to expand the experience of a place. This is how he began to focus on more extensive reporting, becoming interested in developing long-term projects.

Oleksandr Rupeta about the Russian invasion

The war is not a new entry in his work. Able to capture the invisible pain of others, he created several series on the war in Donbas and its consequences on people from the areas of armed conflict. A young woman lies on her bed wearing her uniform and smoking a cigarette. A soldier holds his head in his hands, sitting on the ground. 

There is no blood or explosion in Rupeta’s pictures, nothing but silent suffering. Years before the full-scale Russian aggression in February 2022, the war was part of Ukrainians’ daily life. Rupeta portrayed Ukrainian soldiers on the front line in the eastern Donbas region, and focused on the side effects of war, showing depression among ATO veterans.

It’s all about war: how Rupeta adapted to a new reality

«Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian aggression, everything I shot in Ukraine was related to the war. All other topics stand too far from the main one. That is the new reality we have». On the first day of the war, he took a photo of his mother seen in a mirror in a communal apartment with other refugees in Western Ukraine. Private life and work started to intertwine, as war upended his reality. Another photo which symbolizes this change shows a Russian rocket flying over his parents’ house.

«The fact that people and places you know well are under constant threat severely limits your work. In the first months of the war, I hardly picked up a camera, mainly helping friends and family. Now that everyone is used to living in war conditions, I am able to devote more time to photography».

Regarding the pain of others, Susan Sontag

What is the right distance to respect in order to portray the pain of others? Every reporter dealing with the war as a subject of his photography is confronted with this ethical question. It is interesting to realize, as Susan Sontag notes in her Regarding the pain of others, that the first systematic photographic coverage of a conflict occurred during the Crimean War (1854–1856), right where the current war has started.

«I need a slightly detached view of the topic to make a series. With the beginning of the war, the impossibility of such a view was a big obstacle in my work. Now I experience war as part of daily life. It is no longer a feeling of horror that cannot last long. This war, unfortunately, can last a long time», Rupeta says.

«Before the full-scale invasion, I had a misconception that humanity learns from the experience of previous wars. I also underestimated the fragility of the layer of civilization in a person. As for portraying the pain, I believe any circumstances have the right to be depicted. As for my photographic approach, I keep looking for the priority of love and its manifestations in any occurrence I reflect on».

Documenting the war live: the limits of simultaneity

But what is the real impact photography could have on public opinion? Are we accustomed to the images of war, or we can still be touched by them? What is the role of art in telling the truth? «Today’s technologies allow us to observe and document the war live», Rupeta says. «It probably helps a part of society to stay engaged, but it has little effect on people who want to believe in their truth instead of having an objective view. Perhaps, the use of photography as a means of visual thought could help to form a conscious view among the wider population. I believe in a creative approach».

The war has an impact even on technique: several photographers have started to use drones and lighter equipment, and Rupeta is no exception. «All means are good when they work for a certain idea. I am open to any creative pursuits. But now I’m working in the field and limited in my technique. I even changed my usual prime lenses to a more universal zoom».

After a whole year of war, Rupeta tells us he is ready to finally work on a series about war in one of the most devastated cities in Eastern Ukraine: «I am currently working on a series along the Bakhmut front line. The past year I mainly did commissioned work; I did not have the urge to continue or start a new personal project. Now I feel I’m able to make a series about the war».

Everything by us is a holiday – Oleksandr Rupeta 

One of Rupeta’s pictures from his series Everything by us is a holiday, taken in the Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains, became the 34° Trieste Film Festival manifesto. In fact, the Italian movie festival dedicated a whole section, called Wild Roses, to Ukrainian female filmmakers, also creating a space for the theme of war in panels with journalists and experts.

Oleksandr Rupeta – It’s always a party over here

Furthermore, the festival hosted an exhibition of Rupeta’s photography, called IT’S ALWAYS A PARTY OVER HERE, in which he included several pictures from different series and reports produced in Ukraine over the last nine years. The exhibit gets its title from a story by the Ukrainian writer Vasyl Stefanyk, who described  the harshness of life in the western countryside around the middle of the 20th century.

«I selected photos from Ukraine from the beginning of the war in 2014 to the present. The selection includes photos from various series, as well as reports for magazines. The idea was to show Ukraine, which now more than ever feels united when faced with Russian aggression. I had the opportunity to visit the exhibition in person, and I have to say the impression of the exhibit and its reception were wonderful».

Trieste Film Festival: the festival dedicated to Central and Eastern European cinema

The Trieste Film Festival is the leading Italian festival dedicated to Central and Eastern European cinema. The festival was created in the years immediately preceding the fall of the Berlin Wall, with the aim of presenting the cinema of countries and directors which are often unfamiliar to Western audiences.

From Sergei Loznitsa’s Donbass (2018) to Maryna Er Gorbach’s Klondike (2022) – Ukraine’s contender for the 2022 best international feature film Oscar – in recent years the Trieste Film Festival has shone a light on the ongoing Ukrainian-Russian conflict.

Oleksandr Rupeta

Oleksandr Rupeta is a member of the International Federation of Journalists, the Federation of European Photographers, the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers. As a news and reportage photographer, Oleksandr undertakes short and long-term projects on political, cultural, and social life in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. His works have covered sensitive subjects such as military conflict, people with disabilities and health care in less developed countries, persecuted religious communities, the LGBT community, the lives of ethnic minorities, and animal conservation, among others.

Carlotta Centonze

Reportage – Ukrainian photographer Oleksandr Rupeta

The writer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article.

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