A photograph of a displaced Ukrainian family from Donetsk Oblast now living in Poltava Oblast has been included in National Geographic's list of the best photos of 2025.
Source: National Geographic
Details: The family has been photographed for seven years as part of a long-running photo project.
The image is titled In the Arms of Family and was taken by English-Swedish photographer Anastasia Taylor-Lind.
It shows young Tymofii Tsvietkov and his aunt Olga Grinik, who now live in Poltava Oblast. The boy is wearing a T-shirt reading "My dad wears the uniform of the Armed Forces of Ukraine" because his father is serving in the Ukrainian military.
In the Arms of Family. Photo: Anastasia Taylor-Lind/National GeographicIn its description of the photograph, it says "Olga Grinik grasps the tender hand of her toddler nephew as if for comfort – or to hold him back from the ugliness just beyond their backyard in Ukraine.
But behind the scenes, the atmosphere was actually quotidian and, at times, even joyful as Grinik family members passed around platters of food over a shared outdoor table on a warm day".
Taylor-Lind and her colleague Alisa Sopova have been documenting the Grinik family over the past seven years. They are behind the project 5K From the Frontline, which portrays everyday domestic details of life during wartime.
Taylor-Lind has photographed the family at different stages of their lives: as they fled from city to city because of the war, as children were born and as men joined the military one after another.
In 2022, she captured the Grinik family home in the city of Avdiivka before the family evacuated the city. The house was later destroyed by the Russian forces.
Quote from Anastasia: "While I may have had many plans and intentions about finding, let's say, 'main characters' for a story, the reality is that the Griniks chose us. You don't always know who you're going to have a connection with. It has to be based on genuine reciprocal interest and mutual trust."
More details: Family shoots usually take place once or twice a year and can last several days. They have even developed their own rituals: before each session the family holds a picnic with chicken wings, sautéed potatoes and grilled vegetables from their own garden.
Quote from National Geographic: "The lovely normalcy of Taylor-Lind's glimpses of toddlers jumping from furniture and a baby snoozing on the grass is disrupted once the distant booms of shelling become an eerie background noise."
More details: The photographer has also been affected by the war. In 2023, she suffered a brain injury during a Russian missile strike on a pizzeria in Kramatorsk where she was having lunch.
Background: In May, Wikipedia published 10 of the best photographs of Ukraine's cultural heritage. The contest was open to all users of the platform and one image took second place overall.
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