On 24 February 2022, Russian forces invaded Ukraine forcing millions of people to flee to safety. Now two years on, more than 6.3 million Ukrainian civilians are displaced throughout the world, nearly 80% are women and children.
Since the outbreak of the war, Polly Braden, has been following the personal stories of some of the Ukrainian families who fled to Europe to escape the violence. In this new series of photographs and films, Braden set out to capture the less visible side of conflict in which she highlights the unseen burden of responsibility that falls to women.
Presenting these stories at the Foundling Museum echoes the constant challenges and agonising choices endured by women throughout history, including the sacrifices made to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their children and others.
Documenting the extraordinary emotional and geographical journeys of mothers, daughters, grandparents and babes in arms, Leaving Ukraine is an intimate portrait of women and children navigating the complexities of new schools, homes, languages, jobs, friends, and people left behind as they weigh up the challenges of starting again in a foreign country against the risks of returning home.
For two years, Braden has worked closely with Anya, Lena, Narine, Sofiia, Yuliia, Aliesia and their families who became dispersed across Poland, Moldova, Bulgaria, Italy, Switzerland and England. Together they have created a vivid record of painful separation, joyful reunion, the arrival of new life and the shaping of alternative futures, set against a backdrop of uncertainty created by the war.
Leaving Ukraine is on show at The Foundling Museum, London until September 2024
Guardian - Some found happiness. Some were overwhelmed. Some had to return. Photographer Polly Braden spent two years documenting the lives of Ukrainian women and children as they became increasingly scattered across Europe
Economist - The hopes and dreams of Ukraine’s teenage refugees. Photographer Polly Braden has followed the lives of schoolgirls who fled after Russia’s invasion
BBC - The Ukrainian teenagers who returned to a war zone for their school prom
CNN - This photographer spent two years documenting life for the women forced to leave Ukraine
HOLDING THE BABY
On show at Arnolfini 19th February 2022 to Sunday, 12th June 2022
The book is now out!
In 2019 Philip Alston, a United Nations poverty expert, came to the UK to look at the effects of austerity. His conclusion was that single parents have been hardest hit.
Having become a single parent myself I started to look at some of the prejudices and policies that impact the parent who has stayed. With help from charities, law firms, community hubs, arts and women’s organisations, we have been in touch with single parents asking them to be part of this project.
Over the last two years I have worked with Fran, Jahanara, Charmaine, Aaron, Barbeline, Caroline, Gemma, Carike and their families to represent each of their stories. I learned about their sense of adventure, optimism, creativity, ambition and resilience, transcending the often difficult situations they face. These photographs have been made in collaboration : some have even been taken by the parent themselves, after setting up the camera and lights.
Journalist Sally Williams interviewed the parents and excerpts from these conversations are displayed alongside the photographs and played through speakers in the exhibition.
Writer Claire-Louise Bennett has created a word collage with a wider group of single parents, sharing their reflections on ‘the favourite thing in their home.’
Statistician Rob Minto has looked into the data to find key information about what it means to be a single parent in the UK today.
Curated by Sinéad McCarthy at Museum of the Home
Opening at Museum of the Home in East London, 12th June, 2021. The show then tours to Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool, October 2021, and Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol, February 2022, Bristol. We will also be collaborating with selected public institutions, including The Idea Store, Whitechapel, The Hive, Shropshire, Liverpool Libraries, Baraka community cafe, Bristol.
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Charmaine and Aaron met at drama school when they were 18.
They separated eight years ago, and now share the care of their children, each having them half of the time.
‘Men literally just have to change a nappy in public and they’re seen as the greatest father. They don’t have to do much. You’re always judged as a single mother.’
‘I get cast with this halo. “Oh, he’s brilliant. He hasn’t run off with another woman and disappeared out of the children’s lives.’
Fran with Penny, 13 and Dominic, 11
NHS Covid-19 vaccinator
Fran was 36 when she left her partner.
‘He went to work. By the time he came back, we’d gone. We took no clothes, nothing. We just walked. I went into a photo booth and took a photo of the three of us. I call it my liberation photo. I never looked back.’
Jana with Izaan 5, and Yanna, 2
University student
Jana fled an arranged marriage two years ago.
'Two years ago, if someone had told me I'd be living in London by myself, taking care of my children by myself, and had a place at one of the best universities in the world, I would have never believed it. My old self would have never recognised who I am today.'
Barbeline and Elijah, 10
Print designer
Barbeline grew up in care and had Elijah when she was 18. She was with his dad for two years. She set up a business producing designs for clothes, cushions and wallpaper in 2012.
‘Elijah’s dad wasn’t happy that I didn’t have to rely on him. I’m always able to get on by myself.’
‘I cook African food. Mostly vegetables. I make cassava leaf stew, bean stew, stew with leaves from bamboo trees. But Elijah doesn’t like these vegetables. He says they’re too soft.’
‘I don’t share a bed with Elijah any more. I moved into the sitting room. Even if you have a teenager the council won’t give you a bigger flat. A lot of single mothers live like this. It builds sadness.’
Gemma with Freya, 8, Jack, 6 and Elsie, 2
University administrator
Gemma met her partner at university. They lived together, graduated together, got jobs together. He left her with three children.
‘From 5pm to 8pm it’s all about getting ready for bed. I have to sing the same songs every night in the same order: London Bridge is Falling down; Twinkle Twinkle Little Star; Ba Ba Black Sheep; Silent Night. I sometimes try and skip some of the verses, but they always notice.’
‘I was always in awe of single mothers. I couldn’t imagine having to do it all by myself. Now I’ve come to realise that actually I was doing it all myself anyway.’
Carike with Seren, 4
SEN classroom assistant
Carike didn’t plan to have a child.
‘I was 40, I decided fine, it’s alright, I can do it. I don’t need him to be in our lives.’
I used my exercise time during lockdown to cycle through the city, generally early in the morning as the kids were home and needed help during the day. It was eerily quiet, the birds seemed loud. Offices shut, workers furloughed or working from home, the terrifying financial consequences of the pandemic made visible by the city’s emptiness. The streets were swept and washed, cleaners often the only people out in the morning. It was pointed out to me that one of the pictures was the opening shot to the Specials, Ghost Town! Alone on my bike it felt like entering a pristine film set waiting for the actors to arrive.
To be out at the Black Lives Matter protests at the end of this time was both moving and energising. I’ve included a few photos here.
Historic England collected 200 images from Lockdown including a selection of mine.
We meet Prince on the screening day of Orbis’s Flying Eye Hospital programme in Accra, Ghana. He attends the Right to Dream Academy – a non-profit school for children from Ghana who excel at football. At first, Prince comes across as shy. But on the pitch, it’s a different story.
Twelve-year-old Prince has a noticeable case of strabismus in both eyes. When he speaks, it’s clear that he’s not comfortable looking people in the eyes – and he often looks away during conversations.
Shane, a physiotherapist at Prince's school, explains that they had been trying to work out how to help Prince for a while. Then one day, a friend of Shane's mentioned that Orbis would be coming to Accra, and suggested they brought Prince in.
We get the opportunity to visit Prince at his school a couple of days after the surgery. While he is still quiet, he is clearly more relaxed. He is a boy of few words, but he isn’t so shy in front of a camera.
