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The Russo-Ukrainian War is an ongoing conflict between Russia and pro-Russia forces on one side and Ukraine on the other.

Ukrainian President Vicktor Yanukovych’s cabinet abandoned an agreement on closer trade ties in the EU, favoring closer cooperation with Russia. What began as small protests escalated to the Revolution of Dignity, also known as the Maidan Revolution, a violent protest with at least 88 deaths. Following the Euromaidan protests and removal of Yanukovych, partnered with pro-Russia unrest in Ukraine, Russian annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea.

Demonstrations in the Donbas area of Ukraine escalated into a war between the Ukrainian Government and Russian-backed separatist forces. Russian military vehicles crossed the border in several locations of Donetsk Oblast, which is believed to be responsible for the defeat of Ukrainian forces in early September of 2014. In November, Ukrainian military reported intensive movement of Russian combat troops into separatist-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is ongoing. Irregular episodes of fighting continue to occur. In October 2021, Russia reignited concerns of a potential invasian after moving troops and military equipment to the shared border with Ukraine.

Russo-Ukrainian Conflict

During the first three weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the city of Lviv - about 70kms from the Polish border - had been spared from violence. Immediately after the invasion, Lviv quickly became the epicenter for refugees fleeing to Poland but also a rear-line base for Ukrainian resistance. The situation in the region suddenly changed on March 13th, when nearby Yavoriv military base was hit by Russian missiles, resulting in the death of 35 people and wounding of 134 others.

Polish photographer Rafal Milach was in Lviv that same day, working on his ongoing documentation of refugees fleeing the conflict. When he heard the air raid sirens sound, Milach made his way to the closest bomb shelter, located at a hospital, which he photographed during the hours he spent there.

War in Ukraine: Inside a Lviv Bomb...

Independent media channels TV Rain and the Echo of Moscow were shut down by Roskomnadzor due to their coverage of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine on 1 March, 2022. The Prosecutor-General of Russia called the actions of these channels violent, claiming they were deliberately spreading false information and calling for extremist activity. The closing of these stations are an example of propaganda and censorship by Russia during the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Shutdown of Russian Independent...

Day-to-day images from Lviv during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, March 2022.

War in Ukraine : Lviv Dispatches...

Olivia Arthur

American film and stage actor William Hurt has died at the age of 71.
Four times nominated for Academy Awards, he received a Best Actor Oscar for his performance of "Kiss of the Spider Woman" (1985).

William Hurt: 1950 - 2022

In September 2021, after the United States military’s last humanitarian-evacuation flight left Kabul, the interim government of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, otherwise known as the Taliban, was introduced. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid insists that the Taliban are not after revenge, and would offer a more inclusive government that protects women and ethnic minorities. Afghanistan is now in the hands of the forceful Taliban, who is set on bringing the country to a fully Islamic state. Mujahid insists that it was American forces that were the cause of casualties, and that the Taliban revolution was necessary to free Afghanistan from foreign forces.

Without the financial backing of the United States and international lending programs, Afghanistan’s economy has suffered. Government employees are without salary, the price of food has risen out of many families’ ranges. A drought has caused widespread hunger in the countryside that will worsen during cold months. Resources for drug habilitation have also dwindled since the Taliban’s takeover. Drug addicts forcibly go through detoxification. Without access to proper food and medical attention, they spend their time lying on beds in large dormitories, or in the yard of the former US army camp.

Though Mujahid speaks of a more inclusive government towards women, many are still convinced there is no future for them in Afghanistan and wish to flee. The Taliban issued a decree that held that women should have inheritance rights, but did not speak of the right to work or secondary education. After weeks of womens’ rights activists receiving no answers to their questions on the matter, they protested. Many women in Kabul have disappeared following anti-Taliban rallies.

Since the Taliban’s victory, U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has been working to provide relief to Afghans without giving the regime access to funds. In February 2022, Biden announced a plan for handling the 7 billion dollars in Afghan money held in U.S. banks. Half is to be set aside for 9/11 victims suing Al Qaeda and the Taliban. The other half will be for humanitarian aid. The plan will provide continued relief, but will leave the Taliban almost unable to govern, with an unstable central bank and no diplomatic recognition from the West.

The Taliban's Afghanistan

Five days into Russia’s attack on Ukraine, 500,000 refugees flee the city of Lviv. More than 280,000 have crossed the Polish border. Because of the war, Ukrainians are exempt from visa requirements in the European Union and Switzerland. Kyiv Mayor Vitiali Klitschko has called for donations to Ukraine. European countries have been donating warm clothing and sleeping bags. Lines for supermarkets are long, and many migrants were only able to grab the bare essentials. Migrants keep their children and pets close as the future is uncertain. Ukrainian data reports that the Russian army is slowing down, however Russian President Vladimir Putin escalated the situation, putting nuclear weapons on alert.

The once mocked President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, a former entertainer and comedian, has earned respect in Ukraine and internationally. His actions have earned him high regard as a defender of freedom.

War in Ukraine: the Displaced

100th Birthday of Jack Kerouac, American Author, and Poet. (d. 1969). Known for On the Road, The Dharma Bums, as well as Big Sur.

March 12, 2022, 100th Birthday...

1961 Algiers - Between spring and autumn of this pivotal year, Raymond Depardon, a 19-year-old reporter at the Dalmas press agency, was sent to Algeria several times. During his stays in the capital, he captured scenes of daily life, showing two worlds where "Muslims" and Europeans from Algeria rubbed shoulders, and captured the tension that was rising in a city where the presence of the Organization of the secret army (OAS) was becoming more and more threatening.
Évian - The first round of negotiations between France and representatives of the National Liberation Front (FLN) to end the war in Algeria took place in Évian, from May 20 to June 13, 1961. One of the few French journalists to be accredited to the Algerian delegation, in the villa of Bois d'Avault, on the shores of Lake Geneva (Swiss side), the young Depardon seized the "time out" which was so dear to him.
L'Oranie - During the negotiations, Departdon was part of a press trip organized in Oranie, to report there in Magra and Oued El Kheir (native region of Kamel Daoud) where there was a "cooperative village".
2019 - Still in black and white, Raymond Depardon photographed Algiers, as the city moved to the rhythm of the Hirak, a vast protest movement that began in February 2019. Then he went to Oran by train, where, for five days, he met Kamel Daoud for long wanderings around the city. What strikes when we observe these photographs of 2019: the omnipresence of women, veiled or not, in the public space. No one better than Raymond Depardon has been able to capture this evidence. Kamel Daoud, for his part, imbued with photographs from both periods, wrote four very different texts: three for 1961, one for 2019. These are free creations, taking hold of Algerian-French history with lyricism, passion and audacity specific to the Algerian columnist and writer. The book is also streaked with “comets”, short texts – haikus, visions – flashes ricocheting off a photo thanks to the “acoustic”, refined and elegant graphics of Lili Fleury: they vibrate, reverberate, resonate like musical lines

Images Plurielles, 2022.
French.
224 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 2919436511
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-2919436514
23.7 x 2.7 x 24.7 cm

Son œil dans ma main - Algérie...

This new series by Paolo Pellegrin celebrates the eleventh title of the collection Des oiseaux (On birds). Magnum photographer best known for his works testifying to political, economic or even ecological upheavals, his curious mind leads him to focus on subjects that are sometimes more contemplative, where nature holds a major place. Thus, during a stay in Japan in 2019, Paolo Pellegrin, who left to witness the blooming of the cherry trees, is more struck by the majesty and the aerial ballet of a colony of black kites flying over the temple of Shimogamo, Shinto shrine of the 7th century, in the heart of a primary forest.

He manages to capture the movements of this colony of eagles that flutter very close to his lens. Their dazzling speed is captured in tight frames: the birds seem to emerge from the frame or come out of it at full speed. The choreographies follow one another: as a soloist, in a duo or in a group, these fascinating birds of prey seem to slide through space.

This work is part of the Birds collection which celebrates, through the eyes of various artists, their immense presence in a world where they are today weakened. Ornithologist Guilhem Lesaffre offers a unique essay to accompany each photographic corpus. For this book, he tells us the story of the mythology of these raptors, the fascination they have exercised through the ages in the artistic field and their way of life by paying particular attention to the species of black kites photographed by Pellegrin.

Atelier EXB/Editions Xavier Barral, 2021.
Des oiseaux (On birds)
Two versions : English and French
Hardcover, 20,5 x 26 cm
104 pages, 44 B&W photographs
Text: Guilhem Lesaffre

Des oiseaux

In August, 2021, Paolo Pellegrin traveled to the Donbas region where he documented life on the front lines of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.
Since 2014, Ukrainian government forces have fought Russian-backed separatists groups - the Donetsk and Luhansk Peoples Republics - for control of the eastern part of the country. While many residents and have been displaced by the conflict, some have decided to take their chances by remaining in their towns, with tragic results.

On the Front Lines of the Donbas...

Sabiha Cimen spent three years photographing Girl Qur'an Schools in five cities in Turkey, a subject that she knows very well since she attended the same schools when she was a teenager with her twin sister. After becoming a photographer, she returned to those schools to work on her project that has now become the subject for her first book.

The title Hafiz refers to one who has memorized all 604 pages of the Holy Qur'an. Historically the task of memorization began during the time of Muhammad. The individual process can take up to four years and is usually done by girls ranging in age from eight to nineteen. Turkey has thousands of Qur'an schools.

This world has never been captured with so much intimacy before, as only Sabiha can do, because she is part of this culture. Every photo reveals a different aspect and gives us a deeper understanding of the daily life and the dreams of these girls.

Red Hook Editions, 2021.
140 pages
99 medium-format color photographs
20 x 27 cm (7.9 x 10.6 in)
ISBN 978-1-7376814-0-3

Hafiz

Italian screen icon Monica Vitti has passed away at the age of 90.

Monica Vitti: 1931 - 2022

Violent turmoil overtook Kazakhstan at the beginning of the year as massive riots broke out in the economic capital, Almaty, and in other large cities. Peaceful protests over the rise of fuel prices evolved into a revolt against the autocratic regime and as a result on January 5th, President Tokayev dismissed his government, declared a state of emergency and after an appeal for support to Moscow, Russian troops intervened.
Former Kazakh president Noursoultan Nazarbayev had hand selected Tokayev as his successor and it's well know that the former had retianed power behind the scenes until now, when the economic crisis has resulted in his falling out of favor.
According to authorities, the crisis resulted in the deaths of 225 people, with Tokayev having issuing a shoot-to-kill order in what he termed an “anti-terrorism” operation.
Emin Özmen photographed the aftermath of the demonstrations, as Kazakhs attempted to get back to their normal routines.

2022 Kazakhstan Uprising

A Pound of Pictures is a stream-of-consciousness celebration of the photographic medium, bringing together an entirely new collection of work by Alec Soth made between 2018 and 2021. Depicting a sprawling array of subjects — from Buddhist statues and birdwatchers to sun-seekers and busts of Abe Lincoln — this book reflects on the photographic desire to pin down and crystallise experience, especially as it is represented and recollected by printed images. Throughout this eclectic sequence are the recurring presences of iconography, of souvenirs and mementos, and of the image-makers that surround us day to day. Forming a winding, ruminative road trip, Soth’s photographs are followed by his own notes and reflections in an extended afterword. ‘If the pictures in this book are about anything other than their shimmering surfaces,’ he writes, ‘they are about the process of their own making. They are about going into the ecstatically specific world and creating a connection between the ephemeral (light, time) and the physical (eyeballs, film).’

Each book contains five randomised replica vernacular photographs loosely inserted within the pages.

Coincides with solo exhibitions at Sean Kelly Gallery, New York (opening 13 January), Weinstein Hammons Gallery, Minneapolis (28 January), and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco (3 February).

Mack Publishing, 2022.

Embossed linen hardcover with front and back tip-in
Three different papers, including a marbled Japanese stock and five randomised replica vernacular photographs.
25.3 x 31 cm, 156 pages.
ISBN 978-1-913620-11-0.

A Pound of Pictures

Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee marks 70 years since she first took the throne, making her the longest serving British monarch and longest-serving female head of state in history. Queen Elizabeth II succeeded the throne on February 6th, 1952, and was coronated on June 2nd, 1953.

February 6 2022, Queen Elizabeth...

Since 2014, Martin Parr, one of Britain's best-loved photographers, has been granted exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the most prestigious Grand Slam tennis tournaments - followed by over 3 million fans each year - from the Australian and French Opens to Wimbledon and the US Open.

Parr's vivid shots, sometimes poignant, often hilarious, provide a unique overview of life on and off the court, from players to picnickers, sun-hats, and visors to rain-stopped-play.

Publisher: Phaidon
Format: Hardback
Size: 290 x 250 mm (11 3/8 x 9 7/8 in)
Pages: 144 pp
Illustrations: 85 illustrations
ISBN: 9781838663162

Match Point: Tennis by Martin Parr...

During the transition of power between President Trump and President elect Biden, from November 2020 to January 2021, I decided to take my first road trip through the United States.
In an extremely polarized and divided country, I documented some of the main events that defined the history of the United States and looked for points of conjunction with those that marked the Trump presidency, thus creating a narrative that intertwines the present and the past.

The difficulty of saying goodbye...

In 1983, Patrick Zachmann, as part of an introspective project, photographed a community of Ashkenazi people at the Buttes-Chaumont, a park in the North-East neighborhood of Paris which hosts a large population of Jews.

Now, more than 30 years later, on the occasion of his retrospective at the Museum of Jewish Art and History, Patrick Zachmann is trying to find out what happened to the walkers of the Buttes-Chaumont.

Suspicious at the beginning towards this photographer who was coming almost every day, little by little he won their confidence and took their portraits as they interacted in Yiddish with each other like old friends. At the time, he had not asked many questions about their stories or even their names but now the search has begun and he hopes the public exhibition at the MAHJ (Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme) will help locate them.

Zachmann's father, an Ashkenhazy with Polish origins, didn't or couldn't tell his painful family story to his son. This put the photographer in such a position that he was not able to answer precise questions of these people about his Polish grand-parents. He knew only that they came from Warsaw to France and had been deported back to Auschwitz where they were assassinated.

In April 2021, the MAHJ issued an open call for testimonies in order to find them, and 19 names and their descendants out of the 35 have so far been identified. These relatives are still an opportunity to complete the puzzle, and to hear the moving stories of these people belonging to a vanished Yiddish world.

In Search of an Identity

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