Courtesy of
Edward Kaprov
LEICA Fotographie International / BarTur Photo Award: Photojournalist of the Year
Highly Commended
Edward Kaprov
Personal War
Ukraine. Kharkiv, Donbass area
When people used to live in a primitive society, wars were waged for provisions and fertile lands. With the development of humanity, appetites increased and different political senses were made up to justify violence. After the appearance of the first photographic evidence, humanity could not any longer ignore the atrocities being committed. But wars haven't ended whatsoever. Those who committed yesterday, today condemn others to justify their violence tomorrow...
The country I was born in disappeared from the world maps more than 30 years ago. My motherland shattered into fragments of various sizes like a huge mirror. All values and symbols collapsed with it. The WWII (Great Patriotic War) remained the last "sacred cow". So, for me, it became a personal war.
I decided to shoot the latest war using the first photographic technique. I wanted to close a certain logical circle. After all, the first documented war was the Crimean War in the middle of the 19th century. At the beginning of this war, I bought Ford Transit in Germany, turned it into a mobile laboratory, and went alone through several borders, to the front line. I've chosen, to sacrifice a "decisive moment" for capturing time on fragile glasses. The face of the latest war.