Seeing The Unseen

Iva Sidash

Since 2014, and especially after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, life in Ukraine has changed completely — particularly for those living near the frontline. In villages like Slatyne, war isn’t only about explosions or destroyed buildings. It enters the home. It lives in daily routines — in the absence of running water, in a woman’s hands wrapped in bandages from overwork, in meals cooked by flashlight during power cuts.

Seeing the Unseen tells the story of Aliona — a single mother of two, living just 13 kilometers from the frontline in Kharkiv region. When Russian forces were about to occupy her village, she fled with her children. But after Ukrainian troops liberated it, she made the decision to return. Her house was hit by a missile, the village school destroyed, there is no functioning infrastructure — and yet she keeps going. She teaches online. Her children study remotely. They live simply, but with deep tenderness between them. I follow her story to understand what drives people to return home when the war is not over.

These photographs invite the viewer to witness the resistance that happens within: the persistence to care, to rebuild, to protect — and the enduring traces of love in the smallest, most fragile places.