For many spared the direct impacts of the war in Ukraine, the conflict has become a distant concern — distressing and unsettling, yet no longer disruptive to daily life. To bring awareness back to the war’s human cost, Russian visual artist Danila Tkachenko installed enlarged photographs documenting the destruction next to famous landmarks in eight European cities, and then photographed Ukrainian refugees against the backdrop of these images. Meduza shares the project, titled “Inversion.”
Olena, a 92-year-old former teacher, against the backdrop of a photograph showing a destroyed apartment building in Borodyanka, Kyiv region. The photograph, taken by Maxim Dondyuk, was placed in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany.
Twenty-five-year-old model Viktoriia stands in front of a photograph showing another destroyed apartment building in Borodyanka. Captured by photojournalist Yuliа Ovsyannikova, the image was displayed by the Louvre Pyramid in Paris, France.
Two-year-old Alina is held by her mother in front of an image of a destroyed bridge in Irpin, Kyiv region. The photograph, taken by Mexican photojournalist Narciso Contreras, was placed on the Charles Bridge in Prague, Czechia.
Fedir, a 32-year-old lawyer, stands before a photograph showing a bombed school in Zhytomyr, Ukraine. The image, captured by Portuguese photojournalist Miguel A. Lopes, was displayed in front of the Colosseum in Rome, Italy.
Seven-year-old Khrystyna in front of a photograph of the bombed-out city of Mariupol, taken by Evgeniy Maloletka. The photograph was displayed on Montmartre hill in Paris, France.
Ivan, a 23-year-old designer, stands in front of a photograph taken by Mykhaylo Palinchak. The image shows a church in the liberated village of Bohorodychne in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. Pisa, Italy.
Anna, a 30-year-old real estate manager, stands in front of a photograph of ruins in Chernihiv, taken by Mykhaylo Palinchak. Paris, France.
Forty-year-old makeup artist Yuliia stands in front of a photograph of the destroyed Donetsk Airport, taken by Vasily Maximov. Versailles, France.
Nataliia, a 39-year-old editor, stands in front of a photograph taken by Maxim Dondyuk, showing a bombed apartment building in a settlement in Ukraine’s Luhansk region. Milan, Italy.
Vladlena, a 25-year-old beautician, stands in front of a photograph of the world’s largest aircraft, Mriya (“dream” in Ukrainian), which was destroyed at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. The photograph, taken by Oleksii Furman, was displayed near the Rialto Bridge in Venice, Italy.
Eleven-year-old Oleksandr against the backdrop of a photograph showing destroyed apartment buildings in Izyum, Kharkiv region, taken by Evgeniy Maloletka. The photograph was placed next to the European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France.
Anna, a 60-year-old dentist, stands in Vatican City in front of a photograph by French photojournalist Laurence Geai, taken in the village of Yatskivka, Donetsk region. Yatskivka was liberated by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in September 2022.
Photographs by Danila Tkachenko
