Photographs and words by Yevgenia “Jane” Laptii
Featuring Serafyma Yol and Anna Voda
My name is Jane. I am a photographer from Ukraine. The war caught up with me when I was in my village, Cherkas’kiy Tyshky, with my grandfather and grandmother. We were occupied instantly on February 24, 2022, at 6 a.m.
15 kilometers is the distance that separated our village, which was under occupation by Russian forces, and Kharkiv, which was held by Ukrainian troops.
I spent 20 days under occupation before I managed to escape. I fled on March 15, 2022. First I was in Latvia, then Germany, and finally Austria, which is where I am currently based and engaging in creative endeavors.
At the beginning of this year, I travelled to Portugal to see the ocean, connect with dear friends and reacquaint myself with dreams from the occupation.
My birthday is in January, so I decided to go to Portugal. It was my longtime dream to see the ocean. I remember that during the occupation I often dreamed of the ocean, regardless of the fact that there was a war all around, bombs were falling and I slept in a cold basement. I had happy, sunny dreams where the ocean was. When I woke up, I returned to the harsh reality where there was only death and despair. Therefore, when I got to Portugal, it seemed to me that I was still sleeping in the occupation and now a shell would explode somewhere.
My name is Serafyma I am Ukrainian from Kharkiv. I left Ukraine one month after the big war started, together with my mom and my 5 year old daughter who has cerebral palsy.
This year time perception is so different. The anniversary feels like a painful paradox, hard to express it with words. I think I hide many things away from myself. To stay sane.
Friend and friends of friends is something that actually gives this world a chance. It’s a basement. I never felt this before so clear like this year.
About Portugal…it was so beautiful and I felt so guilty to be there. To see that beauty and be safe while there is a war in Ukraine, while my child has cerebral palsy and can only lay on her back.
The world is so dualistic. I feel like we are dancing between love and death.— Serafyma Yol, artist
The ocean is like bombs—it roars so loudly that it seems that the blast wave will sweep you off the ground. Probably only after seeing the ocean, I again felt like I was in occupation, a moment before death. And this feeling is incomparable. The ocean is hundreds of millions of bombs that explode every second. The element fills you and you break into millions of pieces.
Next to me were my closest friends who supported me a lot when I was in occupation. They were my guardian angels and now they are with me, at the edge of the Earth in Portugal, in the country that I dreamed of during the war.
Serafima and Anna are the heroes of this series, which is dedicated to dreams from the occupation. They turn into mystical creatures, mermaids, seraphim, phoenixes. They walk between dreams and reality.
The war will now always be with me until the end of my days. This is an experience that will never be forgotten. It does not matter whether it is the first day or the thousandth: now war has become a part of my life. It’s hard for me to talk about it now.
— Yevgenia “Jane” Laptii, photographer
All photos taken by Yevgenia “Jane” Laptii in Sintra and Cabo da Roca, Europe’s westernmost point, which is known as the “end of the world”, on 25th January 2023.
Editor Michaela Doyle
To boot…
Check out more of Jane’s art and writing in the 15 kilometers series in ZOOT’s Ukraine calling section.
