I am trying to absorb this whole photo but I keep coming back to her eyes. She is looking toward the camera, but she isn’t really looking at the photographer. She is listening to whoever is on the other end of that phone call. For that moment, that person matters more than the cold, the camera, or the ruins surrounding her.
And she is carrying flowers.
I want to know where she is going with them. Are they for her kitchen table or are they for a grave? Maybe it is someone’s birthday. Maybe they mark the anniversary of the day everything changed. Or maybe the tulips were simply blooming and she wanted something beautiful.
That is one of the things this photograph captures so powerfully: even in the middle of war, people still have errands to run and calls to answer. They still buy flowers. They still love people. They still grieve people. Life does not stop when war begins. It just becomes harder to live.
We see so many images of war now that it’s so easy to become numb. I understand that impulse. Sometimes it feels like the only way to get through the day. But there are real people inside every one of these photographs, people trying to feed their families, care for their parents, send their children to school, keep their homes standing, and somehow create moments of beauty while their lives remain under constant threat.
So look at her. Really look at her. And then do more than look.
Keep talking about Ukraine. Keep protesting this war. Help rebuild the schools and hospitals that have been destroyed. Make sure healthcare workers and emergency responders have what they need to save lives. Demand that Ukraine not disappear from our attention simply because the war has gone on for so long.
She is carrying flowers through the ruins. Hope through the despair. Love through the fear. The very least we can do is refuse to look away.
Diary of a Volunteer is both an exhibition and a fundraising project.
Postcode Ukraine is a Kyiv-based charity founded in 2022 to support grassroots humanitarian organisations and volunteer groups working directly with communities affected by the war
*US supporters of Postcode Ukraine can make tax-deductible donations through our US partner, Shield of Freedom, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit supporting Ukraine. Donations made through this campaign are received and acknowledged by Shield of Freedom and, through its grant programme, support Postcode Ukraine's humanitarian aid initiatives in Ukraine.
Since 2022, Postcode Ukraine has directly funded more than $500,000 of humanitarian aid projects across Ukraine
Through photography, film and humanitarian action, Postcode Ukraine works to ensure that the experiences of ordinary Ukrainians are seen, remembered and supported.
