Photo essay: Creating and capturing change through photos

Marysia Myanovska is a 33-year-old artist, conceptual photographer, volunteer and marketing manager of the VETERANKA Movement. She was born and lives in Kyiv. Through her photographic projects, Marysia shows how people from different generations can change and what influences these changes.

Marysia's first ever project was the story of her brother Valeriy, who passed away, and the teenagers of the 90s from Troyeshchyna, her native neighborhood in Kyiv. Today, she works on images of young people fighting for Ukraine.

"Young people are the most active, they have the most power, desire and energy to change, and they have too little experience to be afraid of anything. They have not seen big defeats in their lives. When we are young, we believe that we can change the world. I believe that each of our generations is stronger and more beautiful than the previous one. Now we have guidelines, we understand who our enemy is, who our friend is, and why we are fighting."

Marysia’s current work focuses on projects about the impact of war on civilian teenagers' civilian lives and a project women in the military. Nowadays, Marysia uses her platform to speak about Ukraine far abroad. Over the past year and a half, she received her first international award. In Poland this year, she became the face of the Lodz Photo Festival. Her work has appeared on the cover of international publications. "At the EU Neighborhood East competition, which was held among European countries that are not members of the European Union, I was very pleased to represent my country and become the winner from Ukraine. It was very pleasant to hear people in Georgia cheering "Glory to Ukraine!"

Her artistic focus was not the only thing that changed due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Marysia says that the situation in Ukraine since 2014 was not perceived as a misunderstanding or an anti-terrorist operation, but she did not believe until the last moment that a full-scale war would begin.

"When one country violates the territorial integrity of another and starts killing its people, it is called war. But there was still some naivety. I always believed in people, in their best sides, and it seemed to me that a full-scale war was unrealistic.

I started to get increasingly tense after the New Year when foreign embassies started to leave Ukraine. I realized the war was coming, but I had no idea what to do. To be honest, I was waiting.

On February 19, my husband and I returned from Ukraine to Krakow. And on February 24, my parents woke me up with a message that Kyiv was being shelled with rockets.

It was as if I was in a parallel reality.  Another reality was happening on my phone. And the worst thing was the feeling that life hadn't stopped around me. You look out the window and everything is calm and cool, people are drinking coffee, hugging and kissing, there are New Year's Eve garlands, people are just living..."

Marisa wanted to be in Ukraine. She was going to return and even consider joining the Ukrainian army, but in the meantime, Ukrainians were fleeing the war to Poland. So, she stayed behind and helped people find shelter.

"The first people we took in were a mother and child from Kharkiv, whom I didn't know during the first week of the war. We helped women and children find shelter in Poland."

Later, through volunteering, the artist joined the Veteranka movement.

"During 2022, I traveled to Ukraine every month. And in January 2023, I decided to return for a longer period of time, and I was looking for something to do outside of photography. I wanted to be useful to my country here and now.

In the summer of 2022, the Veteranka Movement helped me with the shooting of my photo project, and we already knew the acting head of the Veteranka Movement personally. In January, I found out that the NGO was looking for a person to join the team, and I immediately wrote to the Head of the Information Staff. I really wanted to become a part of the Movement, so when I passed the interview and was approved, I was happy. This moment helped to change a lot in my life."

"Today, I manage and strategize the Veteranka Movement's fundraising activities. It is very important for me to see the result of my work here and now, so I care about each fundraising campaign personally, to close it as soon as possible, and to transfer the necessary items to the military at the front as quickly as possible. I never forget that each closed fundraising campaign means a saved life. Together with the team, we are fighting for recognition and respect for women in the army, for opportunities for our female defenders to return home and not start from scratch, but to have the opportunity to study, create a business, undergo rehabilitation, and feel the gratitude of society not only in words.

As part of our cooperation with UN Women, we tell motivating stories of different women (military and civilian) who do not accept injustice, find the strength to fight for their own values and inspire others through their daily work. My task is to adapt the text and visuals of the Strong for Strong interviews for our social media."

"I am also proud to be part of the Veteranka Movement. This is my little family, this is my home. Together with them, we are doing everything we can to ensure that the war ends quickly with Ukraine's victory because every day of it is a very high price."

The publication was published within the framework of the UN Women project "Transformative Approaches to Achieving Gender Equality in Ukraine" with the support of the Office of the Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine and funding from the Government of Sweden.