Beyond the Trenches

Photographer

Florian Bachmeier

07 March, 2024

Anhelina (6), who is traumatized and suffers panic attacks after having to flee her village, lies in bed in her new home. Borshchivka, Ukraine.

Ongoing conflict in Anhelina’s home village near Kupiansk (a frontline city in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine) forced Anhelina’s family to seek refuge. She now lives with her grandmother, Larisa, in Borshchivka, 95 kilometers from Kupiansk, while her mother lives and works in Kharkiv, about an hour’s journey away. The photographer wished to shed light on children who have grown up surrounded by violence, their innocence fractured but their spirit enduring as they adapt to a new life.

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Technical information

Shutter Speed

1/200

ISO

400

Camera

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV

Jury comment

The global jury considered the two singles from Europe about the Russian-Ukrainian war in tandem, recognizing them as a powerful pairing that captures different dimensions of the conflict. The first image, of a soldier conscripted to fight for the Russian-backed, separatist “republic” of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, carries complex symbolic weight, raising thought-provoking questions about nationality and political divides. The second image, of a Ukrainian child, Anhelina, at rest, offers a contrasting perspective — quiet, suspended, and distanced from direct violence, yet still profoundly shaped by the war and its psychological scars. Together, these images expose both the physical and psychological toll of the war, with the pairing providing a deeper, more nuanced view of a conflict with far-reaching global ramifications.

Beyond the Trenches

Anhelina (6), who is traumatized and suffers panic attacks after having to flee her village, lies in bed in her new home. Borshchivka, Ukraine.

Jury comment

Underground Field Hospital