The Ukrainian Family
Photojournalists document the tragic aftermath of a Russian strike on fleeing civilians.
Warning: This story contains graphic photographs of war. Viewer discretion is advised.
One year ago The New York Times published what is arguably the most graphic photograph in their 171-year history. Bravely taken by Lynsey Addario, the image showed a woman, her two children, and another man lying dead in the street, innocent victims of a Russian mortar strike.
Addario’s photo ran 5-columns wide at the top of Page One on March 7, 2022.
Images of dead bodies are not that unusual on the cover of newspapers. Images of clearly identifiable dead bodies, however, are rare.
This was a bold statement by The New York Times.
I was a photo editor at The Times from 2004-2010 and can remember only one photo of an identifiable dead body that made it onto the front page. Looking back, I believe that was a poor decision.
Other photographers captured the aftermath of the attack in Irpin on March 6, 2022, leaving newspapers around the world to wrestle with the decision of which photos to publish, if any, and where.
Spanish photojournalist Diego Herrera Carcedo, shooting for Europapress, made this formal, almost painterly, photo after medics left the scene. Multiple details — the victim’s hand, the lone standing suitcase, the flowers at the base of a World War II memorial — add layers and dimension to the image.
Carcedo’s photos were moved by the Associated Press and widely published. French newspaper Libération published this powerful cover, in tragic detail.
Carcedo moved a variety of photos — his coverage was thorough, exemplary. He told me that this is the first time he’s covered war. “I was in shock and afraid that I would be the next one to be killed, but at the same time I knew I had to take the pictures, so I did,” Carcedo said. “Shortly after there was another shelling and I had to leave - quite scared - running.”
The Los Angeles Times also published a photo by Carcedo. Notice the van in the background with the word “volunteer” written in Ukrainian on the side and the overturned suitcase at far left.
This following image by Carcedo, published by Buzzfeed News, was made facing the opposite direction. The family dog’s green crate and the overturned suitcase can be seen on the right.
The Wall Street Journal has been publishing strong work from Ukraine. Spanish photojournalist Manu Brabo, on assignment for The Journal, shot this sweeping landscape. Brabo went wider, showing more sky and more environment, including a group huddled behind a building across the street.
Italian photojournalist Fabio Bucciarelli composed a frame similar to Brabo’s, but he centered the memorial statue, allowing for the overturned suitcase to appear on the left. Bucciarelli’s color palette is slightly warmer, the sky a touch darker.
Yahoo.com published a powerful series of photos and an interview with Bucciarelli. He said he believes the surviving suitcase in his photo represented the victims’ “dreams of a new life.”
The New Yorker has been doing excellent reporting from Ukraine as well. Photographers including James Nachtwey, Emile Ducke, Sasha Maslov, Mila Teshaieva, and Jérôme Sessini.
Sessini, a French Magnum photographer, made a gripping series of images from the Russian shelling. His use of a more shallow depth of field brings the focus forward, to the lifeless hand and suitcase. Fleeing civilians can be seen in the background.
Ukrainian photographer Maxim Dondyuk was nearly killed that day in Irpin when a Russian mortar landed near him. Shrapnel struck Dondyuk in the shoulder, “ripping away a piece of flesh.” Dondyuk, on assignment for Spiegel, photographed a humanitarian aid van next to the grim scene. Painted on the van are the words “God is with us.”
Tatiana Perebeinis, her children Nikita, 18, and Alise, 9, along with Anatoly Berezhnyi, a volunteer helping them flee, were later identified as the victims. Perebyinis’ husband, Serhiy, learned of their deaths on Twitter.
“I recognized the luggage and that is how I knew,” he told The New York Times.
thanks for helping me see things that I wouldn't normally see on my own in a photo!