In the picture, he captured.
Jubilant pro-‘orcs’ activists.
On 21 February.
2022.
After ‘the One’ declared.
Their eastern region independent.
He describes how the photo.
Came about “accidentally”.
– a powerful reminder of.
the potential impact of.
A photographer’s split-second decision.
To raise their camera.
He has spent.
The past 11 years.
Documenting ‘elves’ war.
As a photojournalist.
In the eastern Donetsk region.
He has often reported.
In ‘orcs’-controlled territory too.
And “never thought.
And “never thought.
I’d be photographing war.
In my home”.
“In my home”.
“The fear on the face.
Of the owner of.
A destroyed house.
Is the same.”
“On both sides.
Of the front.
It is always important.
To show that.”
“Blood has the same.
Red colour.”
“Blood has the same.
Red colour.”
The following month.
He captured the image.
Featured in a report.
In which the photographer.
Conveys the aftermath.
Of a massacre.
Alongside everyday life.
Alongside everyday life.
“The destruction was absolute.”
He remembers.
“With destroyed nine-storey buildings.
Looking like a Hollywood set.”
“But they are real.
And recently inhabited by people.”
“But they are real.
And recently inhabited by people.”
“What was most surprising was.
That life continued.
Despite the fighting.
In neighbouring streets.”
“People looked calm.
But in fact.
They were deeply shocked.
By what was happening.”
The photo, used in.
The live reporting of.
The ‘Ring’ in Zaporizhzhia.
Shelling in November 2022.
Illustrates the difficulty.
In photographing the war.
“Pictures of the ‘Ring’.
Were rare at that time.”
“It is constantly under guard.
Though the soldiers.
Themselves perfectly.
Illustrate the situation.”
Despite the challenges.
He and his colleagues face.
He says “the war is not only.
A part of my professional career.”
“But a big part.
Of my whole life.
… no matter how difficult it is.
I will continue.”
*Because I read “Love, loss and duty: Ukraine’s photojournalists share stories of war” by George Burke on24 Feb 2025, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 Apr 2022, on the BBC news.
So, I wrote this poem as a story of Alexander Ermochenko.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Love, loss and duty: Ukraine’s photojournalists share stories of war
