Odesa Photo Days: Achievements since 24 February

There have been three months, since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since 24 February, Odesa Photo Days have changed the focus: we cancelled the May festival, and have been working with Ukrainian photographers and international community to raise global awareness about what is happening in Ukraine and to support those affected by the war.

Over three months, or one very difficult February, the joint efforts of the Odesa Photo Days Festival and its international partners have brought to life 20 publications in print and online media, 22 exhibitions and 10 online talks and presentations. We have been cooperating on different terms with more than 40 Ukrainian photographers, whom our partners have supported with fees totalling 9,200 EUR.

Donations collected during charity sales and exhibitions were given to such organizations, as the Kharkiv with You Charitable Foundation, UA Animals, DOFA fund, Come Back Alive, a special NBU account in support of the Ukrainian army. We also sent money to the families of the killed photographers Maks Levin and Roman Solonynka, and to the wounded cameraman Oles Navrotsky.

The total audience of all events and publications is more than two million people in 19 countries.

20+ publications in online and print media, including:

The publications include 2 theoretical texts, 4 interviews and 14 photo essays presenting photos of 20 Ukrainian photographers.


Interview with Kateryna Radchenko in the print issue of Berlingske, Denmark

10 online talks and presentations:

  • Online assembly In Solidarity with Ukraine, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
  • Presentation by Kateryna Radchenko History of Odesa Photo Days (organised by the French 9lives magazine, supported by Deutsche Fotografische Akademie)
  • Presentation by Kateryna Radchenko Contemporary Ukrainian Photographic Scene (organised by the French 9lives magazine, supported by Deutsche Fotografische Akademie)
  • Presentation by Kateryna Radchenko Ukrainian Photographers Documenting the War (organised by the French 9lives magazine, supported by Deutsche Fotografische Akademie)
  • Online meeting with Ukrainian photographers at The MEP (European House of Photography, Paris, France) // Presentation by Kateryna Radchenko, Alina Smutko and Mikhail Palinchak.
  • Festival Les rencontres de la jeune photographie international// Online Presentation by Kateryna Radchenko and Oksana Parafeniuk, Niort, France
  • Online conversation Dispatches from Ukraine: Does Visual Storytelling Enable Advocacy?, Kateryna Radchenko alongside photographer Wil Sands, organised by Art Works Project, The Hague Humanity Hub, Netherlands
  • 21th Century Central and East European Photobooks conference // Riga Photography Biennial, Latvia — Kateryna Radchenko speech about Ukrainian photo books
  • Medium Festival, San Diego, USA // Kateryna Radchenko, Maksim Finogeev, Yana Sidash in conversation with Scott Davis
  • German Youth Photography Award, Munich — Future Ukrainian photography, Kateryna Radchenko in conversation with Nadja Koffle.

10 Outdoor projects & screenings:

  • The screening of female Ukrainian photography took place on the roof of the Centro de Fotografía de Montevideo, Uruguay
  • Screening of Georgian and Ukrainian war photography in Tbilisi, Georgia (organised by Tbilisi Photo Festival)
  • Outdoor Exhibition in collaboration with Kulturhuset, Borås, Sweden
  • Exhibition Shoulder To Shoulder. Ukrainian War Photography in public places in Odesa (organised by: Shampanka, NGO “Institute of the development of Odesa” in a partnership with Odesa Photo Days Festival, with the support of Ambassadors of Culture and Vostok Bank)
  • Screening of 11 female Ukrainian photographers at the Sune Jonsson Centrum för dokumentärfotografi, Umeå, Sweden
  • Screening of Ukrainian Contemporary Photography, organised by Gori Photographers Club, Gori, Georgia
  • Screening of Ukrainian War Photography in Sigulda, Latvia
  • Exhibition of Ukrainian War Photography in Baku, Azerbaijan 
  • Calm Waters exhibition of Andriy Lomakin, under auspices of Graph CMI Association, Castelnaudary, France. As part of the Stand with Ukraine programme run by the Diagonal network with the support of the Ministry of Culture and the French Institute. 
  • New Hybrid Deportation exhibition of Alina Smutko, under auspices of Graph CMI Association, Bram, France. As part of the Stand with Ukraine programme run by the Diagonal network with the support of the Ministry of Culture and the French Institute. 


Ukrainian war photography exhibition at Kulturhuset, Borås, Sweden

3 Online activities:

  • Curatorial paring #GreifGuestRoom for Der Greif Magazine with curator Kathrin Schönegg
  • Takeover on The Photographers’ Gallery (London) Instagram account
  • Online exhibition of Ukrainian photography on the website of Finnish Museum of Photography.

12 Indoor exhibitions:

  • The exhibition Gestures of Freedom at Ferenczy Múzeumi Centrum, Hungury
  • Exhibition Ukrainian Front Photography at OKAPI Galerii, Tallin, Estonia
  • The exhibition Stand With Ukraine and sale of Ukrainian photography at Fotografia, Tbilisi, Georgia
  • The exhibition of Ukrainian war photography Ukraine: days of invasion, days of resistance at Technopolis City of Athens, Athens, Greece (organised by The Catalyst)
  • Exhibition The Thin Line, at the gallery Safehouse 2 in Peckham (Lodnon, UK)
  • Exhibition The Thin Line and screening of War Photography in Montpellier, France
  • Exhibition The Thin Line in Ottensheim, Austria, organised by the artist Franz Stefan Lun and Gregor Schlögl
  • Exhibition 24/02 at Magenta Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark, curator Julia Motrenko, May 4-13, 2022
  • Tell Them about Battles, Meteors, and Eggplant Caviar at Stimultania exhibition space (Strasbourg, France), in collaboration with the Diagonal Network
  • Ukrainian Frontline Photography at VEMU Tartu College (Toronto, Canada) 
  • Exhibition Russian Invasion of Ukraine Images of War 2014-2022 at Toronto City Hall, Canada
  • Exhibition The Thin Line at OAG-Kunstverein, Graz, Austria, in collaboration with Rotor center for contemporary art.

In June-July 2022, we are planning to open 9 more exhibitions:

  • Graph CMI

Igor Efimov, 1 July – 26 August, Carcassonne, France

Elena Subach, 14 June – 10 September, Capendu, France

  • Copenhagen Photo Festival (Opening 2 June) — two exhibitions, The Thin Line and Granny
  • Palais de Tokyo (Dates: 6-7 June), Paris, France
  • Les femmes s’exposent – Oksana Parafeniuk (Opening 8 June), France
  • Lodz Photo Festival (Opening 10 June)
  • Exhibition Body as a Propaganda (Nimes, France, Opening – 1 July)
  • Exhibition in Kunstraum Kreuzlingen, Switzerland (Opening 2 July)

Special events:

  • Charity sale Photgraphy for Ukraine  of Ukrainian and Slovak photographers under auspices of Dokument magazine, Slovakia, 16 April – 8 May, totally raised 6036 EUR
  • Ukraine Now, a real-time exhibition featuring work from Ukrainian photographers, window installation at creative agency Wieden+Kennedy London’s public-facing Hanbury Street gallery, UK, May-June 2022
  • Publication of newspaper Information Front with Ukrainian war photography (together with Donald Weber, Christopher Nunn and SYB)
  • Photo Screening during Arles Photo Festival/ Night of the Year (July 2022)

We are grateful to all partners for their strong support of Ukraine and sincere interest in Ukrainian photography. The struggle goes on, and we keep working. We thank all the photographers who continue working and provide us with their materials. If you would like to be involved as an artist or an organiser, please contact us via email: thephotodays@gmail.com.

Cover photo: Ukraine Now, a real-time exhibition featuring work from Ukrainian photographers in the public-facing window of Wieden+Kennedy London.