At the beginning of September, thousands of Kyivans were passing by a street wall, followed by the looks of Ukrainian warriors. They gazed at civil life from the portrait series titled Brave Faces, which showed Ukrainian defenders who had not only survived war, but both lost and regained their faces over the past two years. Yulia Ovsiannikova is the photographer who made both their life struggles and strength visible.
I defined the purpose of the project for myself as showing our boys with all their injuries but without evoking pity. After all, these are our Armed Forces! Pity has no place here. They are alive and with us. I simply wanted to capture their greatness, their strength, and the difficult path they've walked.
Brave Faces is a photo project from the humanitarian initiative Doctors for Heroes, which provides Ukrainian soldiers and civilians with complex head and facial reconstruction at no cost.
For this project, eight brave faces were photographed and exhibited in a triptych format. It allowed to reveal those personalities broader than single photographs might have. However, Yulia admits that they chose a triptych due to the difficulty of selecting just one image per person.
"I was unsure, like many photographers are, about the final results. However, when I saw the reaction of the curators, whose idea this photoshoot was in the first place, I was filled with satisfaction. They had tears in their eyes.
Vadym, 25, who has already become a company commander, was among the first photographed. When they saw his photos, their words were "Oh my, he is like a young god!" and I had the same thought. It felt as if God made all this but with our hands. There was such a bright, beautiful energy all around."
Going their separate paths during the treatment, not all fighters knew each other before the photoshoot. It was Yulia's idea to gather them together as she was aware of how reticent people with their life experiences might be. Being in the understanding company was crucial for their participation in the visual project, which, as Yulia notes, is truly much more than that.
"This exhibition is mainly aimed at reducing the distance between the veterans and civilians. Not everyone is aware of it, but it exists. Many civilians shy away from soldiers because they do not know how to act around them, what to say, or how to react to their scars or missing limbs. Sometimes, men feel particularly uncomfortable because they do not or did not serve themselves. As a result, servicemen feel avoided.
This war will be over one day, but even before then, Ukraine needs to create an environment in which soldiers feel they belong.
We must take pride in our defenders now and never forget their sacrifices. We can't let history repeat itself like in the post-Soviet era when the veterans were neglected and left to seek help from the state and others with little support. It is a shame. I want to preserve the memory of every soldier and photograph each of them---I want people to see the history in their faces, to see them young as they are now."
Yulia herself has never been a passive bystander during this war. In the first days of it, she joined a territorial defense unit in her city, where she served for a year. Afterward, she came back to her job as a correspondent with Ukrinform, which finally gave her the chance to go to the front, as she desired, but in a different role.
"I remember gathering with my unit during a combat readiness alert -- we thought that we would be attacked from Belarus. And I had my weapon and camera lying in front of me, side by side. I realized I had to choose between them. It felt like being asked whether you love mom or dad more. I chose the camera. And that was it."
Photo projects like Brave Faces are yet to become widely popular. For now, their audience is concentrated among those directly connected to the war, either personally or through loved ones, while a few attend out of general interest or respect for the fighters. Yulia's favorite visitors are children.
"When schoolkids come, they are usually very direct. You won't see them hiding emotions or scrambling for the right words. They come to the defenders and simply say 'What happened to you?' and, fueled by their sincere interest, the soldiers start telling them."
Another satisfaction comes from watching the doctors who worked on a soldier's recovery see their patients---now healed---reunited with loved ones and sharing their stories with the public.
"We all have some sort of professional shortcomings, and doctors do as well. Due to how overloaded they are, they are not able to delve into each case on a personal level, or they would simply burn out. Some specialists don't even meet with the patients.
One day, a facial reconstruction technician came to me during the exhibition and said 'Wow, that really is him! I know what his skull looks like, but seeing him in person is so unusual.' I believe these are the moments when doctors can truly realize how important their job is.
This exhibition shows that fully: the soldiers not only got back their ability to chew and smile but to have a normal life and place in society, where they feel free.
Both Yulia's armed service and her work as a photographer have never been done out of patriotism, but instead have always been inspired by the bravery of the people around her. By her example, she shows that there is a role for everyone. However, there are also hard choices to make. Thus, one has to choose wisely.
