The work of a build editor: how to choose the shots that shape a story. Tips from Ukrainian documentary photographer and photo editor Danylo Pavlov

Danylo Pavlov shared his experience of working with visual stories of war, talked about the daily routine of a photo editor and the photo stories that he particularly remembered, as well as how to maintain empathy when you view hundreds of images with sensitive content every day.

Danylo Pavlov, a Ukrainian documentary photographer and editorial director, has been working in the Ukrainian media for over a decade. He started with regional media in Donetsk and now heads the visual direction of the print magazine Reporters. In photojournalism, he focuses on creating social photo stories and illustrating long-form reports. After Russia's full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, Danylo continues to cover the war. He reports from the front line and the de-occupied territories, and is currently working on a long-term photo project documenting the impact of the war on soldiers and civilians in need of plastic surgery.

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Photojournalism and inspiration‍

Danylo Pavlov started working as a photojournalist in 2009. He recalls that he just liked taking pictures, documenting the peaceful life of that time and filming stories for the media. “Gradually, I started watching different photo stories, getting acquainted with the work of Ukrainian and foreign photographers,” says Pavlov. ”The first photographers whose photos I started to be inspired by were Oleksandr Glyadyelov and Oleksandr Chekmenev. I also liked the works of Anna Voitenko, in particular her photo story about weaving wickerwork in the village of Iza in Zakarpattia. I looked at these works and thought I wanted to do something similar.”

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The photographer recalls a series of photographs by Oleksandr Hlyadelov and Maksym Dondiuk of people with tuberculosis. “Maksym Dondiuk came to Donetsk with an exhibition of his works fifteen years ago. I remember that I was really looking forward to this exhibition. I really liked the photographs, but at that time I didn't even think that I would also work as a documentary photographer. At that time, I was more interested in commercial photography,” Pavlov says.

Danylo shot for regional media in Donetsk and taught photography to students. In 2014, he moved to Kyiv, where he started shooting for the media and commercial photography again. “My photographer friend, who now works for Ukrayinska Pravda, and I tried to shoot photo stories,” says Pavlov. ”At the time, I was interested in stories around one or more characters, I wanted to show their lives. I gradually started shooting my projects, which were published in various media, including Bird in Flight. Creating photo stories was an outlet for me, as it happened in parallel with commercial shoots and work in the editorial office.”

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The Ukrainian media outlet The Ukrainians became a special place for Danylo Pavlov, where photo stories began to appear and where he could publish high-quality photos in a beautiful layout. Danylo offered the publication several series of his photographs and they were published. Cooperation was established, and eventually the photographer was invited to work permanently at The Ukrainians, and later was offered the position of bilderdämmer of Reporters, which at that time initially existed online and in print.

“The photo story about Oleksandr Kononov that I shot for The Ukrainians is memorable to me and I still like it very much,” says the photographer. “It's a story about a volunteer from Luhansk Oblast who settled in the forests of Zhytomyr Oblast and raised goats. He took some of the animals out of his home and multiplied the rest in a new place. Oleksandr lost his arm and leg in an accident. Since 2014, he has been helping the Ukrainian military, was held in captivity, and later started his own cheese business. “My colleagues and I made a cool story about Oleksandr Kononov. A lot of people watched it, and Oleksandr even had high-ranking officials who promised to help him with his farm. Then I found out that after the de-occupation of Oleksandr's hometown, he returned home to Luhansk region. At the beginning of the full-scale war, he was killed. This is a sad story,” says Danylo Pavlov.

Among the stories that Danylo remembers most, he also mentions the story of Volodymyr Marmus, a Ukrainian public and political figure from the village of Rosokhachi, near Chortkiv in Ternopil region. He was imprisoned under Soviet rule and lost his son, a soldier, in the war. “I spent the whole day with Volodymyr Marmus and his wife Iryna. I filmed very carefully. It was hard for me, I was with them in this grief and I was very much imbued with this story. However, I didn't want to say goodbye to them, and after the shooting I felt devastated,” explains the photographer.

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Working on photo stories‍

The Ukrainians created an online artistic reporting media, Reporters, which also published photo stories. “We published various series of photographs, both new and archival, and talked a lot about documentary photography,” emphasizes Danylo Pavlov, ”Then we created a printed magazine, which was originally published twice a year, and now it is published quarterly. We continue to publish photo stories and documentary projects by Ukrainian authors in the magazine.”

It is important for a bilderdorfer to have a visual education, professional “observation” and preferably to be able to take pictures themselves. “It's not enough for a photo editor to look at pictures and choose illustrations for a story. It's important to see the overall concept of the publication and be a manager - to negotiate with photographers, call, ask, remind,” says Daniil Pavlov. ”There are authors from whom you order a shoot because you know what you'll get in the end. There are photographers who need to be directed, given a clear technical task.”

Danylo Pavlov doesn't work for a news outlet, so he doesn't have to scroll through news agency feeds looking for the right illustrations for an event. Instead, he looks at documentary series or projects that have already been filmed, and works on the visuals for the upcoming issue of Reporters magazine. “Only when I've decided on the topics and series of photos that will be included in the next issue do I start writing to the photographers. It seems unethical to me to ask people for photos and then never publish them,” Pavlov emphasizes.

Each issue of Reporters magazine has its own theme, to which Danylo Pavlov looks for relevant photo stories and arranges for photographers to work on the issue. One of the last issues of the magazine was dedicated to the theme “Love in Dark Times”. Danylo notes a series of photographs by Oksana Parafeniuk, which can even be expanded over time and continue to be taken. The next issue will be devoted to how the war is changing the landscape of Ukraine.

Among the issues of Reporters magazine that have already been published, Danylo particularly remembers the issue about the military. “This is a very high-quality issue in terms of content and printing. It really resonates with me,” says Danylo Pavlov. ”We live in difficult times, but we cannot dedicate every issue to the military. However, there is this issue of the magazine that can be read from time to time. This magazine contains my photographs from Donbas, when I traveled around Bakhmut and documented the lives of civilians and the military.”

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Sensitive content‍

Danylo Pavlov emphasizes that war can be filmed not only on the front line. You just need to find interesting characters and topics. At the beginning of his career, Danylo worked in Donetsk, a large city where many different events took place. “My colleague Serhiy Vahanov took very systematic photos of Donetsk. Later, I used a lot of his pictures for various materials,” Pavlov explains. ”For example, Vaganov photographed Barack Obama, who was not yet president and came to see the process of disarmament of Ukraine at one of the plants in Donetsk region. Or another unique shot by Serhiy Vahanov is Elton John in an orphanage in Makiivka where children with HIV live. Unique shots can be found everywhere.”

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During the shoot, the photographer should shoot as much as possible, and then decide which shots to publish. “A photographer shouldn't have any particular taboos about what to shoot,” says Daniil Pavlov, ”Nowadays, it's worth publishing photos with sensitive content, but within reason. Relatively speaking, if the face is not very visible or the general plan is very general. However, a documentary photographer still needs to violate the personal space of the people he or she photographs. Today, unfortunately, very often these are people in grief.”

Since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, many photographers have been shooting funerals of fallen Ukrainian soldiers. “I think the issue of filming funerals should be regulated. We have various chats where information about the upcoming funeral rites is disseminated. It would be nice to read information there about whether the family of the deceased is not against filming or, on the contrary, is categorically against it. Then we would have been able to avoid many unnecessary discussions,” explains Danylo Pavlov. ”Filming burials is about documenting history and a way to pay honor and respect to the fallen soldier.

When choosing images for the magazine, Danylo Pavlov often consults with the magazine's designer. “It's usually harder for me to choose among my photos which ones will be published in the magazine. In this case, I listen to the opinion of the designer with whom we work in tandem,” says Danylo Pavlov. Due to the limited number of pages, it is much more difficult to tell a photo story in a magazine than, for example, on Instagram or a website. However, if you are thoughtful during the shooting process, you can take a deep and concentrated photo and the story will look great in the magazine.

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A journalist and a photographer usually work together on reports for Reporters. It is important that they support, respect, and feel for each other. “A photographer should not interfere with a journalist's work, taking pictures when it is inconvenient or inappropriate. At the same time, the journalist should not interfere with the photographer's work, making sure not to get into the frame,” Pavlov explains. ”Often a good photo is a matter of seconds. The photographer sees an interesting shot, a good composition, and suddenly the journalist's arm or shoulder appears and the photo disappears.” It is important for a journalist and a photographer to discuss the topic before the trip and be on the same page.

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In addition to his work as a photo editor, Danylo Pavlov works on his own photo stories and long-term documentary projects. He recently returned from Donetsk Oblast, where he documented the impact of the war on the lives of its residents. “One of my long-term projects, which I have been working on for over a year, is stories about plastic surgery that affects people's quality of life. I have found ten characters whose stories I want to follow for a long time. I hope to return to these shootings in the near future,” says Danylo Pavlov.‍

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We worked on the material:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Katia Moskaliuk
Editorial director: Olga Kovaleva
Literary editor: Yulia Futey
Website manager: Vladyslav Kukhar