Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 1,582 Ukrainian cultural sites, including 598 libraries, have been damaged. It is no secret that Putin’s goals are not purely territorial but cultural, to eliminate Ukraine as an independent nation and subjugate its culture to Russian dominance.

In collaboration with a group of Ukraine-based photojournalists, FotoEvidence is developing an initiative FotoEvidence Ukraine to support the Ukrainian photography community and contribute to the preservation and restoration of Ukrainian history and culture trough photo books publications documenting the Russian invasion of Ukraine since 2014.

WHY BOOKS?

Books are familiar and accepted object at every level of society and around the world. The stories told in books communicate social issues beyond the front-page news and educate about the roots of conflicts and human rights violations. The book stays as evidence on shelves in homes and libraries keeping the stories that shaped the world. Books are often seen as treats and burned. FotoEvidence was created to keep memories and to inspire social change by the work we publish and promote.

Ukrainian and international photojournalists have produced extensive visual documentation of this tragic era in Ukraine’s history. Their dedication illuminates the myriad layers of life under active invasion, cultural cleansing and forced assimilation. FotoEvidence Ukraine will collect and publish visual stories documenting this period, with the goal of populating restored libraries and schools with books that preserve the history of this time for future generations.

Ukraine:
A
War
Crime

by 93 photojournalistse

FotoEvidence is the publisher of the acclaimed historical book, Ukraine: A War Crime, a collection of over 360 photographs and 35 witness accounts by more than ninety photojournalists from 29 countries, all united to present their first-hand testimony about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, from the perspective of those tasked with documenting it. The book was recognized as the Photography book of the year by the International Photography Awards in New York, shortlisted for the 2023 Arles Historical Book Award and received Silver medal in the Human Rights and Media category of the Anthem Award.

To bring the reality of war into communities, the FotoEvidence Ukraine initiative will mount traveling exhibits based on books we published. The book, Ukraine: A War Crime was presented during 14 different venues in Europe, including Ukraine and the US.

Supported by the Open Society Foundations, an exhibit based on the book will travel in the Western Balkans, starting in Tirana, followed by Kosovo, Northern Macedonia, Bulgaria and Serbia.

We plan to establish collaboration with the National Library in Ukraine and the Ukrainian Ministry in Education to distribute the books to schools, libraries, and cultural centers.

Schools and libray in Ukraine will be rebuilt but it will take time for new books to be produced and fill the libraries shelves again.

The mission of FotoEvidence Ukraine will be to produce books that will fill these shelfs and bring the history into the classrooms. Books that document the history of a strong nation.

Working with a Ukrainian team, FotoEvidence will bring to the support of Ukrainian visual storytellers over a decade of experience of  developing and publishing powerful photo books focused on human rights. The FotoEvidence Ukraine team includes 16 established Ukrainian and International photojournalists and photo editors with experience in storytelling and photo books. FotoEvidence has worked with most of them in previous publications on the war in Ukraine. Their task will be to bring stories that merit preservation in books and to guide the authors through the creative process.

Ultimately, every new author will become part of the team, a growing collaborative community of photojournalists working to document current history for the sake of future generations.

The FotoEvidence Ukraine Team will be led by Director, Svetlana Bachevanova and Managing Editor, Irynka Hromotska.

The Collaborative Editorial Board includes: Paula Bronstein (USA),Maxim Dondyuk (UKR), Brendan Hoffman (USA), Oleksander Glyadyelov (UKR), Natalie Keyssar (USA), Serhii Korovayny (UKR), Olga Kovalova (UKR),  Sarah Leen (USA), Evgeniy Maloletka (UKR),   Sasha Maslov (UKR), Mikhaylo Palinchak (UKR),Oksana Parafeniuk (UKR), Danylo Pavlov (UKR), and Katerina Radchenko (UKR).

Starting in May, 2024 FotoEvidence Ukraine will accept book proposals from Ukrainian or based in Ukraine International photographers whose work focus on documenting the Russian invasion  since 2014.

Proposals must be in the form of low-resolution PDF, that includes the statement of the work in English or Ukrainian, images, and a short explanation of your vision for the book. Email to:

svetlana@fotoevidence.com or i.hromotska@gmail.com

Deadline: September 1^st, 2024

Proposals will be reviewed in September 2024 and selected authors will be invited to discuss possible publication.

Creating a book is an educational process and one of FotoEvidence’s core activities to nurture photographers dedicated to producing long-form, humanistic stories.

In building a book FotoEvidence gives the photographer the opportunity to work with a creative team that includes the publisher, a photo editor, and a book designer.  The goal of this creative process is both to support the photographer in building a book that fulfills their vision and to produce a powerful book with emotional impact.

All FotoEvidence Ukraine books will be printed and bound in Ukraine.