When The Smoke Clears
Photographer: Svet Jacqueline
Exhibit Title: When The Smoke Clears
Location: Ukraine
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, it upended the established world order, beginning the largest conflict on European soil since the Second World War. In 2025, Russia has yet to formally declare war on the neighbor it is trying to destroy. Yet Ukrainians have been forced to adapt regardless.
Yet in more than three years, Russia has not been able to destroy what makes a place a home; its people. The people of Ukraine, exhausted, displaced, and grieving, have not given up, determined to endure, to rebuild, and to go on living. They embrace calmness and fortitude, even as they face some of the darkest days of the war. It is this collective persistence that is the focus of When the Smoke Clears. Some of Ukraine’s most powerful stories are taking place far from the frontline, rarely seen in international headlines or news broadcasts because they are woven inextricably into the daily lives of ordinary Ukrainians. This project seeks to illuminate these quiet moments, which all too often go unseen.
The Wall Street Journal, Leica Camera, Zuma Press
When I first arrived in Ukraine at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022- it was completely foreign to me. I was thrown into the breaking news of covering war, drawn instinctively to the humanitarian moments that seemed most undeserved. I had a semi-broken camera, an age-old computer, and failing hard drives in my bag- no conflict experience, no editorial contacts, and a small amount of borrowed money in my pocket. I sat on train station floors with refugees, chased explosions with my colleagues, and started learning everything I could about speaking Ukrainian and surviving in a warzone. That first year was incredibly profound to witness as a documentary photographer- all I could do was shoot as much as possible and let the images say the things I didn’t have the words for.
This past year has allowed for a deeper perspective, an integration of everyday moments that seem to provide relief from the never-ending tragedy. As a Russian orphan at the collapse of the Soviet Union, adopted into a Ukrainian-descended American family, the history of Russia and Ukraine has always been a personal story. This summer, the attacks are hitting closer and closer to home as hundreds of drones and rockets are fired at Kyiv each week. The message now feels more abstract than just what war looks like- it is what surviving a war feels like. The highs and lows of constant shelling juxtaposed with the experiences we take for granted. Every photograph on this wall represents a shared history and culture, embodying what Ukrainians are fighting to protect- the calmness that echoes the darkest reality of conflict. It is a persistence that Ukraine now carries in their collective push for freedom. Asking the question, what future is possible when nothing feels real?
svet Jacqueline
+14109913891 / +380938063730
svetjacqueline@gmail.com
www.svetjacqueline.com
___svetj
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