After 24 February: war in focus

Conversation with documentary photographers

26 March 2024 at 18:30
Dialogue Office for Civil Society Cooperation
Address: Eßlinggasse 9/6, 1010 Vienna
Language of the event: English

Photography bears witness to the terrible reality of war. It allows us to document Russia’s crimes in Ukraine and preserve memory of its victims.

But who are the photographers behind these images? How do they cope with suffering and destruction? How do people perceive the presence of photographers around them? Is documentary photography in such circumstances art or journalism? And what do people behind the lens think about the purpose of photography in times of war?

During the conversation, we will talk to photographers who filmed in Kyiv, Chișinău and Moscow at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. The photos were first exhibited in Vienna in 2022 and are now published in a catalogue “After 24 February”, which will be presented at the event.

Speakers:

Victoria Ivleva,
journalist and photographer. Winner of the World Press Photo Award for the reportage from Chernobyl reactor (1992). Victoria lives and works in Ukraine, where she captures the consequences of war and the devastation of people’s lives. She has previously covered military conflicts in the former Soviet republics, assisted humanitarian missions in Africa, and was the only Russian journalist documenting the Rwandan genocide.

Sergei Stroitelev,
photographer and visual artist. Sergei works with Helsingin Sanomat, VICE UK/USA, De Volkskrant, Meduza and other media. His photographs explore people’s lives in the contexts of social injustice and consequences of conflicts all around the globe.

Pavel Mirny,
photographer and visual artist awarded by Magnum Emergency Fund, The Documentary Project Fund and National Geographic. Pavel works on projects on the topic of history, difficult heritage, private and collective memory.

Rufina Zaidullina,
Editor of the “After 24 February” exhibition catalogue, administrator of the Dialogbuero’s traveling exhibition by the same name.

Participation is free, registration required
Photo: Victoria Ivleva, a Russian cassette bomb that landed in the zoo. Mykolaiv, August 2022

About the organisers:
The Dialogue Office for Civil Society Cooperation is a non-profit organization based in Vienna. It promotes democracy and human rights, sustainable development, anti-discrimination, integration and peace with a focus on Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. Through thematic events, partnerships with civil society organizations and initiatives, publications and public discussions, we provide a multilateral space for exchange and community building among civil society organizations and engaged like-minded people.