Tribute To Odesa

In June 2022, I worked on assignment for the New York Times for three weeks in Ukraine, focusing on Odesa region and city, a symbolic and strategic place. Almost six months after the war began, Odesa was resisting, not untouched, but unbowed. Odesa - the crux of the war not only because it holds the key to the Black Sea but also because in it the battle between Russian and Ukrainian identity — an imperial past and a democratic future, a closed system and one connected to the world. In my photographs, far from the horrors that many of my colleagues have witnessed, I try to capture the essence of this fiercely independent and stubbornly inclusive city, which symbolizes everything Mr. Putin wants to destroy in Ukraine. Scenes of daily life that sometimes seem far removed from those of a country at war and yet show the resilience of an entire nation.