1 Million Bombs Before

I love Ukraine. For me, this is not an empty patriotic slogan. It is a deep sentiment that resonates within me and is integral to my identity. I have always dreamt of showcasing the pristine beauty, the natural majesty, and the incredible colors of my homeland. I witnessed and captured these moments alone, armed only with a camera. I photographed well-known locations and documented unfamiliar corners of Ukraine long before the start of the full-scale war. Having traveled more than seventy thousand kilometers across the country in four years, I preserved thousands of scenes, landscapes, views, and spaces in digital formats. Then the idea was conceived to curate the finest among this collection and compile them in a book. While growing up, I used to spend every summer in the village. A couple of years ago, when I returned there with my equipment, I had a desire to see familiar places from a new perspective, as if I were a bird observing from above. Unexpectedly, the pond – my pond – which I thought I knew like the back of my hand, revealed itself as heart-shaped. No one in the village, or even beyond it, was aware of this fact. Today, it is marked on Google Maps as “The Heart of Podillya lake.“ Throughout my journeys across Ukraine, I continually rediscovered it. Even my native surroundings, when viewed through the camera lens, drone footage, and the eyes of an adult, appeared completely new and unfamiliar. This video encapsulate my journeys through Ukraine. Initially, my intention was to present an uncommon, bird’s-eye view of Ukraine’s beauty—to showcase it from ABOVE. However, now I recognize that pain is intertwined with beauty. The land, mutilated by the enemy, with scarred forests and protected areas, will never resemble what I originally captured and etched into my memory. Consequently, I am even more motivated to share these preserved treasures with the world. I hope that, at the very least on paper, each reader can experience what may be lost or has already been destroyed by the ravages of war. This is the point at which creativity takes on an even deeper significance, as it doesn’t merely inspire an understanding of Ukraine.