2nd place
silver star award
Zoya Shu
ukraine 
title
INTEGRITY
The aesthetic approach to scars' pictures is meant to be therapeutic and transform pain into art, when an individual injury becomes an art piece. It also has purpose to draw attention and involve a viewer into analyzing the horrors of war and its reasons, promoting a discussion about damage inflicted by humans and how it can be repaired and prevented in future. War leaves multiple wounds on many levels.
Loss of integrity should be treated as a collective trauma in any society. Throughout human history people became victims to divisions by various characteristics, manipulated by large political powers into deadly wars for the sake of geopolitical interests, ideology or material values.
It is hereby to underline that the biggest value is a human life.
When internationally newsworthy events happen in Kyiv, Ukraine, I cover them as a freelancer for international agencies, like the Associated Press, Reuters, EPA. In 2019 I started doing documentary projects on subjects that relate to the war in Ukraine. With my new project "Integrity", which I started in 2020, I try to implement artistic approach into documentary.
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entry description
In the project "Integrity" the battle scars are an allegory of the country, mutilated by war. The pictures were taken in Ukraine and depict scars of wounds received in the war zone. Since 2014 Ukraine has lost thousands of human lives and control over 7% of its territory. The war continues, injuring multiple lives and creating consequences that will take decades to overcome.The aesthetic approach to scars' pictures is meant to be therapeutic and transform pain into art, when an individual injury becomes an art piece. It also has purpose to draw attention and involve a viewer into analyzing the horrors of war and its reasons, promoting a discussion about damage inflicted by humans and how it can be repaired and prevented in future. War leaves multiple wounds on many levels.
Loss of integrity should be treated as a collective trauma in any society. Throughout human history people became victims to divisions by various characteristics, manipulated by large political powers into deadly wars for the sake of geopolitical interests, ideology or material values.
It is hereby to underline that the biggest value is a human life.
about the photographer
I was born in Ukraine. I hold a Master Degree in International Relations. After working as interpreter for 4 years I realized that photography is a universal language understood by everyone, a way and a tool able to inspire people or raise awareness about important issues.When internationally newsworthy events happen in Kyiv, Ukraine, I cover them as a freelancer for international agencies, like the Associated Press, Reuters, EPA. In 2019 I started doing documentary projects on subjects that relate to the war in Ukraine. With my new project "Integrity", which I started in 2020, I try to implement artistic approach into documentary.
back to gallery
