Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine more than 400 thousand refugees have entered neighboring Moldova. More than 70 thousand of them are minors.
The current portrait is taken from the series "Lost Light" characters of this which are children - refugees. All of them live in a temporary accommodation center in Chisinau, Moldexpo. This is a former exhibition complex, and later a covid hospital. Children are forced to huddle in small boxes without doors or ceilings. These boys and girls miss their relatives, friends who stayed in Ukraine, pets, toys, favorite parks and streets.
Within the framework of the story, with the help of a projector, I overlay photographs from the happy, pre-war past of these children onto their figures and current living conditions thus showing the consequences of this terrible war.
Elmira is 16 years old, she came from Odessa together with her mother, frightened by the prospects to die during bombings. It was difficult to get to Chisinau - they had to stand in a traffic jam for two days.
The photograph projected onto the girl shows a field of sunflowers where she spent time with her friends in the summer.
