About The Book
Testament ’22 is Byron Smith’s powerful debut monograph documenting his 10,000-mile photographic odyssey through Ukraine’s first year under Russia’s unprovoked invasion. Inspired by Taras Shevchenko’s literary legacy, Smith captures an intimate yet varied portrait of a nation at war.
Contributing to the overwhelming evidence of Russian crimes, these profoundly moving portraits feature texts by Kyiv Independent reporter Igor Kossov, with whom Smith collaborated on frontline dispatches. Publisher’s Info
Book:
-> Testament ’22
Children play in a clubhouse made from abanonded Russian ammunition crates. Chernihiv, June 2022.
After coming home from summer camp, A Ukrainian tween spend the afternoon in an abandoned building hit by a Russian airstrike in the center of Chernihiv on July, 2022.
Five kilometers from the Ukrainian-Russian border in the Kharkiv region, a Ukrainian special forces soldier with the 130 Battalion out of Kyiv sleeps in amid artillery and heavy weapons fire with his squad at a safe house. November, 2022.
About The Artist
Byron Smith (b. 1986, Brooklyn, N.Y.) is an internationally recognized, award-winning photographer whose work aims to capture the cause and lingering effects of conflict and migration and the echoing impact these issues have on the world. He has covered stories from conflict zones, including Iraq, Sudan, and Ukraine, to the political landscapes of Northern Ireland, Kazakhstan, and the United States. Byron’s work has been exhibited in major cities in the US, such as New York City, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, and it extends internationally to the UK, Germany, Italy, Greece, and Finland.
A recipient of a Royal Photographic Society Documentary Photography Award, his work has been widely published in The New York Times, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Getty Images, Le Monde, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, and VICE.
Artist:
-> Byron Smith
On a boardwalk in Odesa. August 8, 2022.
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The result of shelling at a school in Chernihiv. July, 2022.
Beer cans showing the Mona Lisa holding a Javelin in a restaurant. The javelin has been an indispensable weapon for Ukraine in taking out Russian tanks.
About The Publisher
Verlag Kettler are always on the lookout for interesting and unusual topics in the fields of art, photography, architecture and graphic design. They cooperate with museums and exhibition venues and work with authors, artists and photographers on content and design. Their program covers a wide range of topics. In addition to publishing popular titles, they also support many young and emerging artists.
Publisher:
-> Verlag Kettler
Header Photo: A group of displaced Ukrainians flee Irpin, a suburb of the capital Kyiv, in the early weeks of Russia’s invasion. © Byron Smith by courtesy of Verlag Kettler.