Nearly a year on from the invasion of Ukraine, photographer Mark Abegg is launching “Models for Ukraine,” a multimedia portrait project aimed at keeping the conflict in people’s consciousness while raising funds for charity.
Swiss British fashion PR-turned-photographer Abegg turned his lens on Ukrainian models for a raw series of black-and-white shots that debuted at Paris’ Oddity gallery and event space Wednesday night.
Abegg worked with casting director Maxime Valentini, who reached out to Paris-based agencies to bring in Ukrainian models, with shoots taking place in December and January. Benjamin Grillon art directed the unvarnished shots, which feature the models bare faced and in plain white shirts.
Related Galleries
The gallery event also featured clips of the models speaking about their emotions and personal experiences during the war, while a tabloid-style newspaper filled with the photos was on offer.
All proceeds from the prints and paper sale will go to Ukrainian organization Women’s March, which operates shelters and assists women and children displaced by the war.
Abegg’s friendship with model Pasha Harulia and her husband Dmytro Novichenko inspired him to embark on the project. Harulia helped guide him as they worked to create a project that would not only keep Ukraine in focus, but also help people draw connections between the current economic crises in Europe and the global consequences of the localized war.
“What I was trying to do is just to create awareness that there are Ukrainian people around us that are suffering and that we are suffering ourselves because of this, maybe it’s not directly affecting us because it’s not our families, or we don’t see it from day to day, but it is happening,” he said. Inflation and the cost-of-living crisis that are causing hardship around the world are an indirect result of the war, he noted.
The project aims to remind people that even if the war might be out of sight, it’s just a three-hour flight from Paris.
“We can actually do something about it, and alleviate some of that suffering and pain,” he added of donating funds to Women’s March, which directly helps families on the ground.
Abegg also called on fashion companies to do more, particularly donate items including blankets and coats to help people get through the winter.
Eighteen images were available Wednesday night, with others available upon request. As for the timing of the event falling outside of fashion week, he added: “I wanted to do it as soon as possible because they need help now, not tomorrow, not next month.”
The style is a departure from Abegg’s cinematic fashion photography, with the portraits raw and unflinching. Abegg shot on film and all prints are handmade on silver gelatin using traditional darkroom techniques.
“It’s an old-fashioned way of doing things. I wanted it to be very real and not faked,” he said, noting that there is no retouching. “I wanted it to be imperfect to actually see the beauty of who they are.”