By Anna Konovalenko

The full-scale war in Ukraine has been going on for more than a year. As Ukrainian armed forces continue to defend the country, the world looks on as the horrors of the battle are shared by journalists and the news media. A journalistic job became no less important than a military one. Alex Babenko, a Ukrainian photographer, started to document the war, and war crimes on February 24, 2022. Alex is a freelancer who works with foreign news organisations and supplies images to the world through the pages of the New York Times, Washington Post and many others.

The Aperture talked to Alex as he shared his story:

‘My choice of becoming a war journalist was more than conscious. Before the war, I was working in film production. Already in late December 2021, I knew that the war was about to come. I realized that Journalism is the one thing I can contribute.’

‘On February 24, I went to Lviv and there I met with a journalist. Together we made a radio package about Ukrainian Railways. From March 6 to 8, we took a train and went on a route Lviv-Kyiv-Lviv. We witnessed the moment people were evacuating from Bucha and Irpin. Those were people who saw Russian military forces and escaped occupation. That was my first job.’
‘Now, I work as a freelancer and cooperate with foreign media. It usually works in a team of two, it would be me, the producer, and a foreign photographer. Where we go mostly depends on a daily news bulletin or media interest. I try to cover socially important topics. We go to the front lines, scenes of tragedies and even more peaceful places to talk to people and see how they are coping.’

‘I try to film the reality. I present my work as a news documentary photographer. There is no goal to highlight something specific. It’s more about passing information and an emotional state of events.’
‘When I make photos that aim to evoke feeling I tend to find one element that will represent the light or the life “before”. For example, when there was a tragedy in Dnipro and 46 people died as the missile hit the house, I framed children’s photos lying on the ruins. Showing the previous life I try to represent the peace during the war.’

Alex Babenko takes the Camera as a weapon.

‘It’s hard to believe but I find the driving force to continue my work nowhere else but on the frontline. When I see our soldiers who weren’t at home for more than a year, Journalism work doesn’t seem that difficult after all. I can go home and have a rest, they cannot. When I am working, it’s usually 4-6 weeks of everyday filming. When there are a couple of days free, I am at home taking a break from photography.’

‘I can’t highlight one episode or a particular mission that was the most dangerous or the scariest to say so. When you’ve been to so many of them they’ve just lost count. I went to Slovyansk this summer and saw Russian artillery working at just a 5km distance. Last couple of months I have visited Bakhmut and Vuhledar (Donetsk oblast). It is usually up to 500-600 metres to the front line. I put on a bulletproof vest and go on with my job. For me, it’s important that I work for the informational war abroad. It’s crucial to maintain people’s interest in the war. I do this job and I know it’s worth it. I guess that is exactly the thing which helps me understand why I didn’t go to the army.’