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Kyiv under attack as Ukrainians celebrate their New Year’s Eve under the Julian calendar Photos Bohdan Warchomij January 15, 2023

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KYIV, Ukraine — An industrial warehouse vibrated to the thud of speakers ahead of the new year as young revelers in the Ukrainian capital seized the opportunity to briefly forget the bitter tune of warning sirens and missile blasts that has dominated the past 10 months.

Dozens gathered in this dilapidated corner of Kyiv on Friday to party, determined to celebrate — if only for one DJ set — despite the destruction Russia continued to raindown ahead of 2023.

A number of smaller events were planned around Kyiv and other cities to mark the occasion as a show of defiance against Moscow’s bombardment and in some cases as an opportunity to raise money for Ukraine’s military.

“The main message of this party is that the war isn’t stopping and we shouldn’t stop, either. We should continue to do our thing, to work, to party, to be strong,” said one of the party’s organizers, who goes by the nickname Ugly Boy and declined to provide his real name out of fear for the safety of his wife, an active service member who also helped to organize the event.

Dressed in a skin-tight black vinyl top, hot pants, tights, platform boots and black contact lenses, Ugly Boy looked every bit a holiday partygoer. But the timing of the event — daytime Friday, the day before New Year’s Eve — was unusual.

The Ukrainian War and the photographers covering it January 10, 2023

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A Russian soldier covered in the first snow of winter Photo Tyler Hicks

What are the certainties in war? The death and destruction of old survivors. The shattered limbs of children and their probing looks as they investigate their new lives under dark skies. Shattered towns, mass graves and suffering beyond measure greet the Ukrainian forces steadily pushing back Russian troops, revealing the civilian and military toll of the war and the invaders’ occupation in the east and the south.

The Ukrainian counteroffensive and Russian retreat are making a mockery of the Kremlin’s claims to have annexed four regions of Ukraine after sham referendums — though Russia’s advantage in arms and its conscription of civilians could yet change that balance. The slow-moving war of summer, waged with long-range artillery that flattened whole towns, has given way to rapid Ukrainian advances.

But for Kyiv’s forces, the elation at retaking territory seized by the Russians is tempered by the brutal cost, both in and out of their own ranks, and by the knowledge that a large part of Ukraine remains in Moscow’s hands.

This, then, is what winning now looks like: ruined buildings, crumpled bridges, burned-out vehicles and depopulated places where the few residents who remain look haunted, many of them older, hungry, sick, cold. And everywhere, there are bodies — dead soldiers and civilians, in hastily dug graves, in blasted cars or just lying out in the open.

Lyndsay Addario is also in Ukraine.

Photo Lyndsay Addario

The Russians have retreated in the Kherson, Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, and even on the edges of the Luhansk region, with heavy casualties on both sides. In Zaporizhzhia, where a Russian-occupied nuclear power plant has been shelled repeatedly, the game of nuclear chicken continues.

With no end in sight to the war, it is hard to contemplate what it would take for Ukrainians to rebuild their lives and their country. The scale of the task is staggering.

For more than 10 months, photographers with The New York Times and other news organizations throughout Ukraine have chronicled the brutality of war. Their names are household names in journalism. The Ukrainian photographer from Sydney called Daniel Berehulak with two Pulitzer Prizes to his name is working in what is ostensibly his virtual homeland.

David Guttenfelder (born 1969) is an American photojournalist focusing on geopolitical conflict, conservation, and culture and now Ukraine.

 

Based in Spain Emilio Morenatti is working in Ukraine:

Emilio Morenatti: ‘I would give up the Pulitzer to have my leg back. I’d even burn my work’

Recognized for his poignant series of images of the pandemic, the award-winning photojournalist talks to EL PAÍS about disability and the role of photography in society. He is based in Spain and lost a leg in Afganistan. He feels the importance  of working behind the front line in Ukraine rather than working at the pointed edge of the war. He has empathy with the victims in hospitals.

Photo Emilio Morenatti AP

Tyler Hicks is on the front line in Ukraine. Based in Kenya but a staff photographer for the New York Times, he is currently in Ukraine.

Ukrainian Refugee girl at Ukrainian Christmas Carols St John the Baptist Ukrainian Church Maylands Perth Photo Bohdan Warchomij

Perth based Ukrainian Photographer Bohdan Warchomij documents the lives of refugees from Ukraine  who have travelled to Perth to escape the Ukrainian devastation.

Alina Chornoruk is a nurse at Perth’s Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Her daughter clings to her during a Christmas carol celebration at Perth’s St John the Baptist Church in Maylands Photo Bohdan Warchomij

 

This gallery contains graphic images.

Photo Bohdan Warchomij

Lauren Crook: PERMISSION AT GALLERY CENTRAL January 6, 2023

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Nude photography artist, Lauren Crooke presents Permission, a collection featuring breathtaking and thought-provoking nude art works shot across Australia showcasing Crooke’s trademark medium; the nude form of women and non-binary people, and radical, Western Art-inspired creative composition.

With the #meetoo movement as the catalyst for inspiration, she uses her photography to empower women and non-binary people with an artistic platform for self-expression and body reclamation, and shows women and non-binary people how they deserve to be seen, as a work of art, through the female lens.

Permission inspires viewers, and colours your thinking and is intended to incite conversations and raise awareness to gendered sexual violence and oppressive systems, and disrupt the invisibility of those who are affected.

DATES
6 January – 20 January 2023

VENUE
North Metropolitan TAFE, Central Gallery

Free

Artist Floor Talks: 14 January

Q&A: 14 January

GROUND ZERO Photo Andrea Myers Broome January 4, 2023

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The Fitzroy River rages at record level as Kimberley towns are out off and bridges buckle in a flood disaster.

The once in a century weather event has been caused by ex cyclone Ellie which entered WA six days ago from the NT and has been slowly moving across central parts of the Kimberley, dumping vast amounts of rain, especially through the Richmond River catchment.

Flood levels peaked on Tuesday night with authorities bracing for the worst.

Over the weekend, wide spread rainfall totals of 200-500 mm have been recorded across the region.

On Tuesday, the Fitzroy River peaked at 15.29 metres- the highest level on record, passing the 2002 record of 23.95m.

Fir and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm, said it was a’an incredibly serious situation.”

“Fitzroy Crossing is completely isolated and the only way in and out of the town is by helicopter.” he said.

Andrea Myers’ photo of some fifteen kangeroos on an outcrop of land in a sea of water captures the seriousness of the situation not only for the kangaroos but for humanity. The weather is such an important part of our lives and extreme weather causes problems for so many people in so many countries of the world.

The World On Edge: The Menace of Vladimir Putin January 3, 2023

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Doctor Fiona Hill, former senior director for Europe and Russia at the US National Council  claims

Putin remains  as determined as ever to press ahead with the Ukrainian war, even if it costs the additional deaths of hundreds of thousands of conscripted Russian

soldiers who have been enlisted to backfill his depleted army.

Ukraine’s well organised and determined military. aided by the US and allies have stood their ground heroically in this battle. Ukraine was persuaded

at the end of the Cold War to give up their nuclear weapons and promised they would be internationally safe from their enemies. What’s happened since February 24,2022

is that they have been invaded. Crimea was annexed in 2014 and the appeasement of Russia has led to the most horrific land war in Europe since the  second World War.

Dr Hill has said: The battle over the future of  this is in fact, a battle over  European security …. The problem is, many countries are in denial. Putin is very capable of adapting and he can survive if we let

him survive in his information war in Ukraine.

The responsibility lies with all our governments to figure out a to end this war that doesn’t just give Vladimir Putin exactly what he wants.

 

 

 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Historic speech from the United States Capitol December 26, 2022

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 — 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a historic speech from the United States Capitol Wednesday night, expressing gratitude for American support in fighting Russian aggression since the war began – and asking for more.

“I hope my words of respect and gratitude resonate in each American heart,” Zelensky said during the joint meeting of Congress, later adding, “Against all odds, and doom and gloom scenarios, Ukraine didn’t fall. Ukraine is alive and kicking.”

But alongside Zelensky’s gratitude was a plea, emphasizing that his armed forces are outnumbered and outgunned by the Russian military even as they fight on. At one point, Zelensky drew laughs from the chamber when he said, “We have artillery, yes. Thank you. We have it. Is it enough? Honestly, not really.”

Zelensky’s visit to Washington marks his first trip outside his homeland since it was invaded 300 days ago, arriving Wednesday afternoon to set a course for the future of the war alongside a key Western ally.

On “the frontline of tyranny,” Zelensky argued during his speech to Congress, American support “is crucial not just to stand in such (a) fight but to get to the turning point to win on the battlefield.”

“The world is too interconnected and too interdependent to allow someone to stay aside and at the same time to feel safe when such a battle continues,” he added. “Our two nations are allies in this battle and next year will be a turning point, I know it – the point where Ukrainian courage and American resolve must guarantee the future of our common freedom, the freedom of people who stand for their values.”

Autocrats are weaponising the World: “There are no happy endings in Russia”. December 18, 2022

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The Russian invasion of Ukraine has unbalanced the pivot of the world as we knew it. This war is a flashpoint in the great struggle of the 21st Century. Investigative journalists, environmental activists and digital rights campaigners, Bill Browder’s Sergei Magnitsky Act designed to avenge his lawyer’s murder at the hands of eight baton wielding policemen, all have a role to play in defeating Russian aggression against the free world.

The free flow of money has enabled kleptocracy and corruption  to flourish. Dictatorships now have leverage over democracies. Russia invades a sovereign nation. China  punishes Australia when it dares to criticise Beijing’s abuse of human rights, Russia closes off Ukraine’s grain exports to the starving people of Africa in order to blackmail the world into  accepting its mission of genocide in Ukraine.

Transnational media in the global village was meant to bring mutual understanding across borders.  Russia exploits the free flow  of information  with its armies of bots and state media Channels  like RT and China sets up ‘Confucius Institutes’ in Universities  which limit what academics can say on China. Surveillance technologies can be purchased from China or Israel like Pegasus to monitor their citizens through social media. All this  affects the democratic world we live in. And there are razors inside the apple of globalisation that cuts us all.

Edited from a report in TIME Magazine by Peter Pomerantsev author of “This Is Not Propaganda”

Time Magazine has named Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and “the spirit of Ukraine” as its 2022 Person of the Year. December 8, 2022

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Time Magazine has named Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and “the spirit of Ukraine” as its 2022 Person of the Year. 

The award goes to an event or person deemed to have had the most influence on global events over the past 12 months.

Other finalists included protesters in Iran, China’s leader Xi Jinping and the US Supreme Court.

The magazine’s editor said the decision was “the most clear-cut in memory”. 

“In a world that had come to be defined by its divisiveness, there was a coming together around this cause, around this country,” Edward Felsenthal wrote.

He added that the “spirit of Ukraine” referred to Ukrainians around the world, including many who “fought behind the scenes”. This includes people like Ievgen Klopotenko, a chef who provided thousands of free meals to Ukrainians and medic Yuliia Payevska who was captured, then released after three months in Russian captivity.

The magazine said Mr Zelensky had inspired Ukrainians and was recognised internationally for his courage in resisting the Russian invasion.

“Zelensky’s success as a wartime leader has relied on the fact that courage is contagious,” it said.

British trauma surgeon David Nott, who went into Ukraine to help those injured in the war, is one of several others who feature on the magazine’s cover.

Women in Iran were Time’s 2022 Heroes of the year and the K-pop band Blackpink were recognised as Time’s Entertainer of the year.

American baseballer Aaron Judge has been recognised as the Athlete of the Year and Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh is the Icon of the Year.

Elon Musk, who was last year’s winner, was again listed as a finalist. In 2021, his electric car company, Tesla, became the most valuable carmaker in the world.

The tradition began in 1927 – although back then it was the Man of the Year.

World Cup History made by the Socceroos made for the first time since Germany in 2006 December 1, 2022

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Australia 1-0 Denmark: Graham Arnold’s side make HISTORY as they qualify for the World Cup knockout stages for the second time after Mathew Leckie’s sublime solo goal sends Danes crashing out.

The photo of Australian fans behind the net in World Cup 2006 shot on a Hasselblad XPan by Bohdan Warchomij shows the power of this world  moment.

Morenatti November 30, 2022

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AP photographer Emilio Morenatti lost  his left leg in an incident in Afghanistan in 2009.

“When a part of  your body is amputated you cross over into the disabled community. And a camaraderie

inevitably develops. The group is immediately above any kind of impediment. And that is why I am no longer interested

in covering the war from the front line but rather from behind the front line.

His awesome photo of Nastia Kuzyk undermines the bond between the two of them and exhibits the pain of the Ukrainian people and the senselessness of the Russian war against a peaceful nation.

It also  exhibits the power of photography. This photo made me cry  in anguish at the sight of Nastia’s pain  combined with her father’s anguish at his daughter’s  side. Thanks to  AP Photographer Emilio Morenatti for his perception  and his  insight into the humanity of the moment. ‘It is unforgettable.’Many thanks to AP for showing these powerful photos in a blog from Ukraine and the everyday work of working photographers.