honorable mention
Alena Grom ukraine
title
WOMB
Near the front line, people live in constant danger. During the war years, thousands of babies were born in the Donbas! Sometimes they were born under heavy fire and shelling.
Hiding from bombing, pregnant women gave birth in basements. They were forced to stay underground in twenty-four hours, for some months. Children grew and developed there. The war in Ukraine has been going on for more than four years, the intensity of military operations has decreed, but artilery bombardments are periodically conducted and people are still forced to sit underground.
In ancient times, the womb indicated the uterus, Earth Mother. Everything what constitutes a closed space is the symbols of the womb. As in the womb, a new life is born, so these artificial wombs allowed to carry and give birth to children.
https://vimeo.com/user82827859/review/284871269/4397e072aa
As a result of the full-scale invasion of Russia in February 2022, Grom and her family became refugees for the second time, but returned after the de-occupation of Bucha.
These events largely affected her artistic practice. Photography became a salvation for Alena and a way to deal with the traumatic reality of war. Since 2016 Alena Grom’s work focuses on places affected by military aggression. Her lens captures victims of the war, migrants and refugees, and war-torn Ukraine in large. However, her photographs are not illustrations of pity or grief. Life in spite of everything is one of the main themes of the artist.Alena Grom’s projects were exhibited extensively in Ukraine and internationally; and recognised by a number of international photography awards.
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entry description
In 2014 armed detachments of the separatists with the support of Russia captured Donbass. Under the control of the separatists was Donbass - the largest industrial part of Ukraine, based on coal enterprises.Near the front line, people live in constant danger. During the war years, thousands of babies were born in the Donbas! Sometimes they were born under heavy fire and shelling.
Hiding from bombing, pregnant women gave birth in basements. They were forced to stay underground in twenty-four hours, for some months. Children grew and developed there. The war in Ukraine has been going on for more than four years, the intensity of military operations has decreed, but artilery bombardments are periodically conducted and people are still forced to sit underground.
In ancient times, the womb indicated the uterus, Earth Mother. Everything what constitutes a closed space is the symbols of the womb. As in the womb, a new life is born, so these artificial wombs allowed to carry and give birth to children.
https://vimeo.com/user82827859/review/284871269/4397e072aa
about the photographer
Ukrainian artist and documentary photographer Alena Grom was born in Donetsk. In April 2014 she was forced to leave her hometown due to military events in Eastern Ukraine. Since 2017 she has lived in Bucha, a town outside of Kyiv.As a result of the full-scale invasion of Russia in February 2022, Grom and her family became refugees for the second time, but returned after the de-occupation of Bucha.
These events largely affected her artistic practice. Photography became a salvation for Alena and a way to deal with the traumatic reality of war. Since 2016 Alena Grom’s work focuses on places affected by military aggression. Her lens captures victims of the war, migrants and refugees, and war-torn Ukraine in large. However, her photographs are not illustrations of pity or grief. Life in spite of everything is one of the main themes of the artist.Alena Grom’s projects were exhibited extensively in Ukraine and internationally; and recognised by a number of international photography awards.
back to gallery
