The Collection of War Photos
Elena Tita got interested in photography in 2019, leaning more toward portraits, artistic black-and-white photography, and street photography.
Since February 24, 2022, Tita started working in documentary photography, capturing the everyday life of the Ukrainian frontline city of Zaporizhzhia, her hometown. She volunteered at the refugee hub as a social worker and worked as a photographer on many topics: internally displaced persons, humanitarian aid, volunteer movement, training of military and tactical training of civilians, destruction caused by Russian troops, etc.
“Just like in pre-war times, the focus of my attention and camera is still on people: how they react to the war, what they do, how they cope with new living conditions,” Elena Tita shares.
Civilians practice shooting rifles. Free shooting courses for civilians were organized by the Rifle Training Center ‘The First’ in Zaporizhzhia. March 31, 2024.
A volunteer holds a box of sandwiches at a volunteer center in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. March 1, 2022.
Since the first days of the Russian invasion, people have been organizing themselves into volunteer centers to resist and help meet the needs of the military and internally displaced people. The largest volunteer center in Zaporizhzhia had about 500 members in the first months of the invasion. The main goal in the first two months was to defend the city: ordinary people made anti-tank hedgehogs and placed them on the main roads in the city.
A volunteer sews a national flag at a volunteer center in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. February 28, 2022.
Since the first days of the Russian invasion, people have been organizing themselves into volunteer centers in Zaporizhzhia to resist and help meet the needs of the military and internally displaced people. One of the largest centers in the city unites about five hundred people and includes a sewing department, a group that makes potbelly stoves, a department of humanitarian and medical aid, a group that makes trench candles for the military, and others.
Ukrainian girl holds the Ukrainian flag at the volunteer center in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. June 14, 2022.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia became the closest large city for many people escaping the Russian occupation. People began to unite in volunteer centers to resist and to help cover the needs of the military and internally displaced persons (IDPs). There are ofter children at the volunteer centers, whom parents-volunteers take with them and give simple tasks around the center.
A group of female volunteers posing in front of camouflage nets in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. November 17, 2022.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia became the closest large city for many people escaping the Russian occupation. People began to unite in volunteer centers to resist and to help cover the needs of the military and internally displaced persons (IDPs). There are at least ten places in the city that produce camouflage nets for the military, where volunteers, both residents of the city and IDPs, work.