The war has changed the lives of all Ukrainians. Some still live in cities and villages where explosions do not stop, while others were forced to flee their homes due to enemy shelling. Some have a place to return to, and some, unfortunately, no longer have a home. However, all these people do not lose their zest for life and do their best not only to adapt to new circumstances, but also to see the beautiful in every day. Kharkiv photographer Ihor Chekachkov documented such stories in a series of photographs.
Ihor Chekachkov is the founder of the Chekachkov Photo Academy and a photography teacher at the Kharkiv School of Architecture. He is most attracted to artistic photography. Ihor’s work has been exhibited in over 20 shows, including in Ukraine, USA, Poland, Serbia, Germany, France, and more.
This series of photos by Ihor Chekachkov is a continuation of his project “Everyday Life”, which was started about 10 years ago. The photographer explored the interaction of people in a common living space and asked his friends and loved ones for permission to become an inconspicuous observer of their everyday lives. This is how the artist plunged into the atmosphere of their life and their private stories, capturing it in his photographs.
On February 24, 2022, when Russia attacked Ukraine, Igor Chekachkov was forced to move from Kharkiv to Lviv. Since then, he continues to shoot his series, but already in the realities of war. He photographs the common life of people who sought shelter and those who gave it to them. Visiting shelters, apartments and houses, Ihor Chekachkov documents the stories of Ukrainians reinventing their everyday lives.
All these photos were taken in different houses of Lviv or nearby.
Oleg is resting after sleepless nights in shelled Kharkiv and a long journey to a safe place near Lviv. Now he is living in a house with other displaced people. About 30 people shared these five rooms in March.
Kharkiv actress Katia plays with her three children. She and her husband Kostia do not have the necessary documents to leave the country, so the father (Kostia) cannot go abroad with the family.
Anna does yoga in the apartment she shares with four displaced people.
Anna and Artur share an apartment with three people. They spent the first two weeks after the invasion of the Russian Federation in a Kharkiv shelter, and then evacuated.
Anya is putting together the "Future" puzzle in the house where she lives with her boyfriend Iaroslav and four other people.
Ania and Iaroslav from Kyiv are now living in a home for displaced people.
Four-year-old Klym with his parents Olesia and Kostia. Olesia was diagnosed with cancer on March 18. She moved from Kharkiv to Lviv with her husband and children in order to have access to proper treatment. Now, the family lives in a small dormitory room.
Kostia and Vania do sports in the room of their new temporary accommodation. They are studying directing in Kyiv.
Lera from Kharkiv gives Maria a pedicure in her room in a dormitory for displaced persons.
Lina and Sasha live in a dormitory where they became friends after coming from Kharkiv. Lina misses her hometown so much that, despite the danger, she sometimes goes there for a few days.
Marina, Kostia and Vlad are students from Kyiv, friends who live together in the same dormitory room.
Nastia combs Lera's hair. The girls met and became friends in this dormitory when they came from Kharkiv.
Lunch at a home for immigrants near Lviv.
Oksana and her daughter Uliana fill the bathtub with water. They came here from Sloviansk.
Olena from Kharkiv takes a shower after six days in a shelter and a 30-hour journey to Lviv.
Elena and Sasha. Before the full-scale war, the girl was going to move from Kharkiv to Kyiv to live with her boyfriend. The lovers spent the first six days of the invasion separately in different cities, until they decided to go to the west of Ukraine. Now they live together in a house with other displaced people.
Sasha pierces Vika's nose in the dormitory room. Sasha's boyfriend, Danylo, plays with Vika's daughter.
A family from Lysychansk in their dormitory room. In May, their house was destroyed and now they have nowhere to return to.
Sashko and Oleksyi from Kharkiv prepare Molotov cocktails in the shed of their new temporary residence.
Yurii paints the floor in the apartment he rents with his girlfriend Anna and her brother. They spent the first weeks of the full-scale war in Kharkiv, and then moved to Lviv. At first, they lived in an apartment with other immigrants, until the owner asked them to leave.
