The photographer wrote on Facebook that the photography project ‘War Is Personal’ was one of the winners of the regional World Press Photo (WPP) contest. Julia’s photos were complemented with illustrations by Oleksandr Komiakhov and music by Daria Kolomiec, a DJ and cultural activist
As noted in the project description on WPP’s website, ‘the multidisciplinary format of ‘War Is Personal’ allows the photographer to inject more emotion and symbolism than photographs might convey on their own’.
According to Kochetova, she wanted the war to get a ‘name and a face’: ‘I want Ukrainian photography of this war to be remembered as a first-person history. Not a drone flyover. Not a wide shot of graves and bombed-out streets. Don’t try to capture the overall picture of the entire war — it’s easy to lose the human in the wide shot. Just honestly tell one personal story’.
‘The emotive images make for a standout presentation amidst many entries about the ongoing russian invasion of Ukraine. The jury acknowledges this story’s insider-perspective, which is especially evident in the thread of symbolism, strong use of color sequences, and collaborations with a Ukrainian illustrator and DJ’, the competition jury commented on the work.
Talking about the victory, Julia thanked Ukrainian photographers, particularly Serhiy Nikolayev and Max Levin, women in the industry and the Ukrainian Defense Forces, who ‘keep protecting her and the whole world from russian occupation since 2014, and have saved and helped her a hundred times’.
You can see Kochetova’s project on her website.
What other projects about Ukraine won the competition
In addition to Julia Kochetova’s project, the work of German photographer Johanna Maria Fritz about the consequences of the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam won the WPP European competition.
‘The project urges viewers to consider the weaponization of the landscape and man-made natural disasters. This story calls attention to extreme and inhumane acts of war that occurred among many other events over the last 12-months in Ukraine’, the work’s page reads.
‘War Is Personal’ by Julia Kochetova is included in the photo book ‘13 Stories of War’ by Ukrainian Warchive. The team positions the presented works as the authors’ response to the full-scale invasion and an alternative to the conventional narratives that are spread in the media.
In addition to Julia, the book features works by Evgeniy Maloletka, Dmytro Kozatskyi, Sasha Kurmaz, Julia Kochetova, Yana Kononova, Yelyzaveta Bukrieieva, Roman Pashkovskiy, Olena Hrom, Sergiy Polezhaka, Alexander Glyadyelov, Olya Koval, Viacheslav Ratynskyi and Roman Bordun.
The Strategic Media Support Program project implements the Lviv Media Forum with financial support from People in Need (PIN) and Pioneer Foundation.
