Between the frame and presence: Lisa Bukreeva's photographs of war

Yelizaveta Bukreeva talked about finding good moments during difficult shoots, the right to beautiful shots when documenting war, and why sometimes the presence of a photographer is more important than the photos they take.

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The right to beauty

“My photos look like they could have been taken by anyone, but only I take them,” says photographer Liza Bukreeva about her work. She started taking photos in 2019, and most of her projects are related to war in one way or another. Liza emphasizes that she always shoots projects on topics that are personally meaningful to her.

Lisa photographs life in areas close to the front line and on the front itself, so she values convenience and reliability above all else in her equipment. “If you have a camera that's comfortable to use, you'll take good pictures. If you understand what your camera can do, you'll take better pictures. Thousands of your colleagues may recommend a certain camera model, but it may not be convenient for you. It's important to listen to yourself,” explains the photographer. For Lisa, a camera is first and foremost a reliable tool. “I never take care of my cameras — they can be in the snow or get wet in the rain. My cameras often look like they've been through hell,” says Bukreeva. “I would advise having a spare camera. You never know what might happen, and you have to get the shot.”

Lisa Bukreeva's photographs are often described as beautiful and horrific at the same time, because they are about war. This raises the question of whether a documentary photographer has the right to artistic expression in their work and to visually beautiful photographs. “Today, beauty is no longer free — we have to understand that it exists in spite of everything. Especially when working with the theme of war. In my opinion, the visual artistry of a frame emphasizes its tragedy and adds depth,” says Bukreeva. ”I cannot ignore the fact that even in the most horrific circumstances, something good happens.” Lisa Bukreeva is currently working on a large-scale project about stabilization points where the wounded are constantly brought. However, even there, medics, and sometimes even the wounded, find the strength to joke. “I can't take my camera away from the trees that have blossomed on the front line, I can't pretend that if there is a war, there are no blossoming trees. They are there and they are part of this tragedy. Does a documentary photographer have the right to beauty? If it exists here, in war, then of course they do,” emphasizes Lisa Bukreeva.

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While filming at stabilization points, where there are many bloody scenes, severed limbs, and pain, Yelizaveta photographs not only the wounded but also the lives of combat medics. “I recently photographed wounded soldiers who were given pajamas with the words ‘Shine bright’ written on them. The soldiers sit with their faces bandaged because of shrapnel wounds, wearing this slogan on their clothes. It's a complete tragedy that cannot be ignored,” says the photographer.

When it comes to the ethics and aesthetics of photography, Lisa follows very simple rules. She is first and foremost a person, not a photographer, so she tries to put herself in other people's shoes and analyze what would be appropriate or inappropriate for her personally. She also does not hide her camera or take pictures secretly. “I spent a year photographing civilians in frontline and deoccupied territories. I photographed strangers I met in various settlements,” says Liza Bukreeva. ”People often asked me quite sharply what I was photographing and why. I explained everything honestly, sometimes showing them my work. If I want to capture stories and convey information, I need to be just as honest with the subjects of my photos. In my project about the frontline territories, the people look beautiful.”

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Presence in war

Lisa Bukreeva constantly encounters other people's pain in her work. She has no universal recipe for how to avoid burnout and keep going. “Maybe if I stop, it will be harder for me to get back to shooting. I have never stopped or taken a break,” Lisa shares. “I would finish one project and immediately start working on the next. Sometimes I worked on several projects at the same time.” Lisa says that fatigue is not a reason to stop. If she starts a project, she has to finish it, because she took it on precisely because it is important to her.

Elizaveta mainly works on her own projects and rarely—once or twice a month—collaborates with the media. “I take on topics that appeal to me, without a clear assignment from the editor. If I have freedom in shooting, only then will I agree to collaborate,” explains the photographer. She tries to spend a lot of time with her subjects so that the story is not superficial.

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Lisa says that sometimes the presence of a photographer in a certain place is more important than the photos they take. “In the Donetsk region, an old man got very angry with me, asking why I was walking around with a camera and taking photos. I explained that I was documenting the lives of people in the frontline areas. He said that no one needed them. I replied that I was there. Then he thought about it and said I could take photos,” Bukreeva smiles. At the stabilization point, the photographer was also initially treated with hostility and was not allowed to take photos. “I photographed as calmly and correctly as possible, trying not to disturb anyone,” says Liza. ”I returned to Kyiv and posted on social media together with the medical service. When I arrived at the stabilization point for the second time, the medics said they had seen my work and thanked me for coming back.” Lisa does not try to capture the bloodiest scenes or the most seriously wounded soldiers. She never publishes or posts photos on social media that show the faces of seriously wounded people. “I understand that if a photo circulates on the internet, it can be very traumatic for the soldier's family and friends.”

The photographer can work on each of her projects for several years. When she feels she has done everything possible for a project, she starts working on another one. Yelyzaveta publishes her finished projects on her website and social media pages. “I'm a very bad manager for my projects. I don't promote my photos, I just take them,” explains Liza Bukreeva. ”Various galleries contact me, and only then does the project make it to an exhibition. Instead, I start working on a new topic.”

Liza Bukreeva began photographing stabilization points at the turn of 2024–2025. The idea came about by accident — Yelyzaveta's friends needed photos from the stabilization points, and the photographer agreed to take them. However, she made it a condition that she be allowed to stay at the stabilization point for at least three days. “I thought that everyone knew what a 'stabilization point' was. But most of my friends had no idea they existed,” Bukreeva recalls. ”Photographers who are deeply immersed in the subject of war don't even think that anyone doesn't know about evacuation centers or stabilization points. In reality, this is not the case. My friends often ask me about things that seem obvious.” This is how the project about stabilization points came about, which shows not only wounded soldiers but also the work of combat medics.

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Memories for the future

“I photograph stories that touch me. I always look for something good — it's a peculiarity of mine,” says Liza. ”Of course, I look at the photos that other photographers take about the war. However, my work is more influenced by observing the mood and state of our society than by watching documentaries or conceptual projects.”

Lisa Bukreeva is very demanding of herself and her photographs. She manages to stay focused on one project because she constantly reviews her photos, analyzes them, tries not to repeat herself, and looks for new approaches and angles. “When I start working on a project, I want to make it as good as possible. Being demanding of myself helps me work on one topic for one or several years,“ says the photographer.

“I don't work with partners; it's easier for me to be alone than with someone else. I travel alone, take photos alone, and organize the shoots myself,” Bukreeva shares. “It's impossible to be ready for everything. You have to stay alert and not relax. As soon as you lose focus, problems can arise.” Liza arrives at a village in Donetsk Oblast, gets out of the car, and simply walks up to people. She explains why she is there and asks for permission to take photos. None of her photos are staged. “To document the lives of civilians in the frontline territories, I travelled more than 60,000 km in a year,” says Yelyzaveta Bukreeva.

Liza Bukreeva's projects cover various aspects of the war. For the project “Don't Look at the Suffering of Others,” she manually printed photos from news screenshots about the war that were widely shared on social media. “Social media algorithms work in such a way that we saw a lot of news about the war in Ukraine. We thought that the whole world was seeing this news. In reality, it wasn't. That's why this project came about — I archived the news,” explains the photographer.

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“Where I Was Born” is the longest-running project Lisa Bukreeva has been working on. It is about the environment in which the photographer was born, the surroundings in which she grew up and which shaped her. Lisa says that this is the first thing she will tell her future grandchildren about. “I'm afraid I'll be a grandmother who talks about the war all the time. I think it's a significant omission that our grandmothers told us so little about the war. We had no idea and didn't see the whole picture because many facts were kept secret. I can't even imagine asking questions about the war at school and questioning the ideas described in textbooks,” says Yelizaveta Bukreeva. ‘The ’Where I Was Born' project may help my future grandchildren understand their grandmother, tell them about the conditions in which she grew up, what our country looked like, and what happened here.”

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Contributors:
Researcher and author: Katya Moskalyuk
Image editor: Olga Kovaleva
Literary editor: Yulia Futey
Website manager: Vladislav Kukhar