Twelve months on from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, I chatted to some of the many Magnum photographers who have covered the ongoing conflict about the challenges of documenting war and its aftermath.

Much like an ornithologist studying migratory birds, Matej Jurčević used his camera to explore the movement of people leaving his hometown in Tenja. He sought to understand how their moving away affects a hometown and the identity of its people.

Artem Skorokhodko and Dmytro Zubkov travel to war-torn Ukrainian villages, handing out disposable cameras to the local children to show their perspectives of life amidst war. Taken en masse with the flood of images of death and carnage coming out of Ukraine, do we view this material as more evidence of Russia’s crimes? Is this why a 10 year old picks up a camera? Not exactly.

The Ukrainian artist’s work channels both the despair of displacement by war, but also a deep love for her invaded homeland.

When Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Elena Subach found herself unable to photograph those fleeing the conflict. Instead she turned her lens on what they left behind.

In early 2022, photography duo Jean-Marc Caimi and Valentina Piccinni travelled to Ukraine to document a nation preparing for war. What they didn’t know then was that these ordinary people would be putting their newly learned skills to the test just weeks later 

Since war broke out, Ukrainians have been collecting empty bottles and old cloth to make Molotov cocktails to defend themselves. Another crucial weapon for Ukrainian artists has been their phones.

In a solo show at Tate St Ives, Petrit Halilaj returns to the drawings he made as a 13-year-old living as a refugee in Albania.

What should the contemporary “protest image” look like, and should it include the moments of passivity – not so much the calm before the storm, rather the fatigue after the fight? 

This text was published in RESET: Questioning the Image, the Market and the Role of Representation (2020)

If you were to guess which Russian city has the best restaurant scene, you’d probably choose between Moscow and St Petersburg. But it just so happens that Russia’s most successful food scene — at least, if measured by growth — isn’t in a city at all.

Razor-sharp in details and brilliantly impulsive in range, Fibs builds a wondrous mixture of excitement, tension, and fury that simultaneously lifts you up and shakes you to your core. So it’s a relief to hear Meredith, a classically trained MBE-awarded composer and musician, put it so simply: “it’s just really joyful music to play — I love it.”

Rafal Milach’s photos from the July 2017 protests outside parliament in Warsaw depict the dozens of roses stuck on crowd control barriers, alongside signs and placards brought by protesters fighting for Poland’s judicial independence.

Helander’s work is intimate, celebratory, and warm. It’s easy to forget it was produced in a political environment that the photographer herself had fled from.

Without compulsory sex education, Poland’s schools are failing today’s youth. Domka Spytek designs intriguing, colourful, and interactive games for people of all ages to learn about their bodies.

Nanna Heitmann became a Magnum nominee at the collective’s 2019 AGM. The two bodies of work she showed both deal with issues of isolation – physical, social and spiritual – as well as the very nature of how people react to and interact with their environs.

The Chechen Wars of the 1990s and 2000s had a devastating effect on the Caucasian republic’s natural beauty. Photographer Svetlana Bulatova travelled to the village of Engenoy to document its wildlife, but instead found herself shooting the ranger responsible for restoring the balance between the human and animal worlds.

Several women perched on ladders are painting words on wall panels. Their outfits, inspired by socialist utility clothing of the past, are the first clue that these are not gallery assistants putting the finishing touches to the exhibition.

As one of the most famous couples in art history, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov are best known for bringing a glimpse of the Soviet life to the West. Following their first major retrospective, Not Everyone Will Be Taken into The Future at London’s Tate Modern, Emilia talks about her absent collaborator and show’s overriding fear of being left behind.

The 2017 €20,000 Foam Paul Huf photographic prize went to a fictional project by Swiss photographer Romain Mader about a man who goes looking for a bride in eastern Europe. Is this a well-deserved winner or just cheap humour?