Fragile as Glass: LGBTQ+ people in the Russian invasion against Ukraine
“Fragile as glass” is a long-term photographic essay following the fates of different queer realities in Ukraine.
In my photos I show not only the challenges of young people, but also the empowering moments. From everyday life in a country at war, birthday celebrations in the West to the realities of life for family members near the front in the south of the country. The work aims to not only show the typical photos that dominate during war-times.
The photographs will be on display in HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts in Dresden, from March 18th to May 7th.
Soon more..
The people behind the border
Long-term documentary project.
Far from the public gaze, Bihać, a small town in north-western Bosnia-Herzegovina, has become a focal point of migration to Europe. Since February 2021 approximately 300 to 400 young refugees live in several abandoned buildings across Bihać, stranded during the attempt to cross into the European Union. People search for alternatives to official camps that are overcrowded, in horrendous conditions and set up in remote areas.
In 2021 the two biggest self-organized shelters in Bihać are an old paper factory and an unfinished retirement home, called „Dom Penzionera“. The shells are in a very bad condition with no windows, electricity or running water. Heating and cooking is only possible with open fire. The inhabitants are mostly left on their own, as aid work is criminalized, with just a few inhabitants of Bihać and international activists secretly supporting them. Most of the young men that live here have tried to reach Croatia numerous times. Often they are stopped by the Croatian authorities and violently deported back to Bosnia. Some even report, having gone to “the game”, as they call the attempt to cross the border, up to thirteen times. Very little is known about the people forced to live behind the border, their fears, what they experienced and what they wish for.
Therefore, the concept of the project is, to let the people who are affected, participate in the representation of the situation. Handwritten letters are juxtaposed with portraits in front of a neutral background, so the poor conditions they live in do not distract from their faces and words. This is an attempt to counteract the dehumanization they are exposed to every day. The people were given as much time as they wanted to decide what and how much they wished to share. The surrounding images additionally show the reality of their everyday life.
