Graduate album of Chernihiv eleventh graders, tearing the soul from the inside

Occasionally I review my schoolbook with cute pictures. I remember that my parents arranged a session with my classmates in a photo studio and in nature. That was great! And how to remember that time, realizing how beautiful it was. Unfortunately, today Ukrainian students are deprived of all this.



Instagram / @irinakudin_photoknigi Ukrainian school graduates dance their final waltz on the ruins left over from Russian bombing. In the same ruins, they take photographs for memory. Although, let's be clear, it's just impossible to forget. One of these albums I will share with you in today’s article. You have to see it, it’s important to talk about it.

The images I'm going to show you today are really shocking. From carefree childhood and youth of Ukrainians there is not a trace. Destroyed houses, hospitals, kindergartens and schools – this is the reality of Ukraine today. Russia’s full-scale invasion put the lives of civilians on pause. However, they are all trying to adapt to new conditions.

School years are one of the brightest pages in the life of each of us. At the end of the 9th and 11th grades, it is customary to arrange a prom and make beautiful albums with memorable photos. Schoolchildren from Chernihiv decided not to change traditions and took part in a truly unique photo shoot.



Instagram / @thevillageua Photographer from Ivano-Frankivsk Stanislav Senik took up work. He captured eleventh graders on the ruins of a destroyed city. The initiator of the shooting was the man himself. He had no acquaintances in Chernihiv. However, thanks to social networks, he managed to find contacts of graduates who agreed to this unique photo shoot.

“I did not know a single person in Chernigov. One class I photographed before the war, and it was outside the city. There was nothing happening, however, the parents did not agree that the children came to Chernihiv to shoot. But I didn't stop there. I wrote to different people, invited everyone I knew and didn’t know to advertise. There were three classes that agreed. The guys called different places, they got involved in the process, because I did not know any locations, the photographer wrote in social networks.



Instagram / @thevillageua Guys chose not only locations for shooting. They also decided on the style of the photo shoot. At first, the students wanted to wear school uniforms. However, they chose to wear more casual clothes in neutral tones. However, from the classic tapes of graduates students did not refuse. Perhaps this highlights the tragedy of the situation.



Instagram / @thevillageua Album of Memories "Our holiday was stolen, our childhood was stolen." And we wanted to show the world that life goes on regardless of the conditions we find ourselves in. We will never be able to steal faith in a bright future, says one of the participants of the photo shoot.



Now graduates are waiting for their album, and the photographer is already organizing new shootings in his native Ivano-Frankivsk. Stanislav’s reports were broadcast in Paris and Berlin. The man plans to add a photo of Chernihiv graduates in his photo project.

The main idea of the photographer is to let the whole world see what trouble Ukraine is in. For me, photography is not only a good shot for social networks. The photo makes a lot more sense. It reflects the history of our present. When I photographed the children, I wanted to keep in mind everything that these students are going through right now, says Stanislav Senik.



Instagram / @thevillageua Children are not to blame. However, they not only witnessed a terrible war, but also faced the consequences of Russian terror. Nevertheless, each of the participants of this unusual photo shoot believes in the victory of Ukraine. And we wish all Ukrainians that it comes as soon as possible!