It is impossible to imagine the true horror of war when living in peace. Photographer Ben Robinson, however, gives us a small glimpse into the world of combat in his new exhibition, ‘Faces of War’ and Diana Mess reflects on her views on conflict.
There are more than 20,000 soldiers being treated in the Ukraine, most of them receiving care in Kyiv. Ben Robinson is not a typical professor of Philosophy in Oxford, he’s also a famous. After Revolution of Dignity in Kyiv and the Crimea annexation in 2014, he began following the news and soon took the decision to capture the ongoing events. Robinson believes that his "Faces of war" exhibition shows the public the true, non-romantic reality of war. After travelling to the Ukraine’s capital and visiting soldiers at Kyiv military hospital in spring 2015, he became an outspoken British voice for the soldiers, expressing both their agonies and hopes. Robinson’s photos uncover complex issues surrounding the conflict in the East of Ukraine and show the effect it has been having on the military and civilians – both groups terrorised by the scarred and terrorised by the ruthlessness of the war. Central Kyiv Military Hospital, which two years ago was empty and almost abandoned, is today the busiest in the Ukraine. Doctors over there work round the clock sewing severed body parts, trying to piece soldiers together, if still possible, and soothe those who have lost everything. |
All the rooms in the hospital are decorated with children’s drawings. Colourful papers dance in the wind that comes in from the open windows. As far as hospital tradition goes, children’s drawings brought to patients are left even after the patients are discharged so that those who come are admitted after them feel support from “little Ukraine”.
Still, it was that hospital where Robinson had taken the shots that make spectators freeze out of horror.
Still, it was that hospital where Robinson had taken the shots that make spectators freeze out of horror.
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But Robinson considers the social impact that his photos have, and believes that they can influence the situation in Ukraine: “I hope my photos help give a face to the dislocation and trauma suffered by so many. This is not a civil war, but a crisis instigated by those outside who want division and chaos to win… and this is the result of it.”
Kyiv’s hospital is overfilled with the wounded and injured. The majority of soldiers have spent many months there, also seeking help for endless phantom pains. The prematurely aged faces of young men in the pictures show an infinite weariness and sadness. |
“If I could walk, I would go to war again, as who else but me is there to defend my country?” Robinson says, re-telling the words of one of the soldiers.
Listening to Robinson’s stories of the visit, I couldn’t help but cry. He retold many of the conversations he had with the young men in the hospital.
“Hello, my name’s Ben!” Said Robinson, in broken Ukrainian. “I’ve come from London, and I want to show my country the faces of Ukrainian heroes,” he said.
“Hi Ben, then you’d better go to Ward seven where there are true heroes, I’m not a hero, no, just a wounded officer. Contracted,” said one of the wounded soldiers as he sat on the hospital bed.
Dmitriy had been wounded in battle in Donbas; his leg, badly damaged in an explosion, had to be amputated.- “The saddest thing is I can’t feed my family… I’m a burden now...No one cares about me, except my nearest and dearest,” he said.
“And the state? It should help,” he added.
“The state will be too busy for us, even after we throw out the occupiers. The state is unlikely to remember us. I was always ready for such an end. It's my job.”
It is very difficult to express the feelings I had seeing photos as not only are they obviously unattractive, but they are also incredibly heartbreaking. The photographer was not only able to show what the true effects of war look like outside the frontline, but he was also able to share his experience with Londoners, which was a hard task to accomplish.
"When soldiers go to the war, they are full of romantic patriotism, and even there, among frontline fire, they still believe in the heroic deed they are doing. But the hospitals are the only real picture of what a war is,” says Robinson.
I left the gallery with mixed feelings and a few questions: does it matter where the war is? Does it matter who won or lost? Is any political ambition worth people’s deaths and children’s tears? I looked at the men in the pictures, lying wounded and broken, and I thought of their families and futures.
I believe that I am a patriot, and I have always been taught to die for my country if necessary; but after seeing Robinson’s pictures, I asked myself, “what is the real price of patriotism?” The answer is simple: I don’t know.
A few days after seeing the preview of the then future exhibition, I donated £500 to Kyiv Military hospital for the rehabilitation of the one of the soldiers I had seen in the photos.
Listening to Robinson’s stories of the visit, I couldn’t help but cry. He retold many of the conversations he had with the young men in the hospital.
“Hello, my name’s Ben!” Said Robinson, in broken Ukrainian. “I’ve come from London, and I want to show my country the faces of Ukrainian heroes,” he said.
“Hi Ben, then you’d better go to Ward seven where there are true heroes, I’m not a hero, no, just a wounded officer. Contracted,” said one of the wounded soldiers as he sat on the hospital bed.
Dmitriy had been wounded in battle in Donbas; his leg, badly damaged in an explosion, had to be amputated.- “The saddest thing is I can’t feed my family… I’m a burden now...No one cares about me, except my nearest and dearest,” he said.
“And the state? It should help,” he added.
“The state will be too busy for us, even after we throw out the occupiers. The state is unlikely to remember us. I was always ready for such an end. It's my job.”
It is very difficult to express the feelings I had seeing photos as not only are they obviously unattractive, but they are also incredibly heartbreaking. The photographer was not only able to show what the true effects of war look like outside the frontline, but he was also able to share his experience with Londoners, which was a hard task to accomplish.
"When soldiers go to the war, they are full of romantic patriotism, and even there, among frontline fire, they still believe in the heroic deed they are doing. But the hospitals are the only real picture of what a war is,” says Robinson.
I left the gallery with mixed feelings and a few questions: does it matter where the war is? Does it matter who won or lost? Is any political ambition worth people’s deaths and children’s tears? I looked at the men in the pictures, lying wounded and broken, and I thought of their families and futures.
I believe that I am a patriot, and I have always been taught to die for my country if necessary; but after seeing Robinson’s pictures, I asked myself, “what is the real price of patriotism?” The answer is simple: I don’t know.
A few days after seeing the preview of the then future exhibition, I donated £500 to Kyiv Military hospital for the rehabilitation of the one of the soldiers I had seen in the photos.