STATEMENT ON voicEs From the gray zOne :
Voices from the Gray Zone, Ukraine 2022-2026
What is the Gray Zone? Initially a term for contested territory not under full military control of any single entity, the definition has expanded, just like many facets of russia's war of choice against Ukraine. Likewise, the bravado of a russian three day 'Special Military Operation' has morphed into the current five year war of grinding attrition, now lasting longer than WWII. Gray Zone has taken on particular significance with drone warfare, which has developed, and continues to grow, exponentially. Narrow as the width of a river under drone-guided artillery fire, to swaths of territory under stealth fiber-optic FPV (First Person View) coverage, or today's jet-powered drones flying thousands of kilometers, along with equally deadly fast moving propaganda and disinformation spread by bots, it could be said all of Ukraine, most of russia, and much of Eastern Europe can be defined as existing in the Gray Zone.
For the purposes of this exhibit, Gray Zone is both military and psychological in context. Besides the military and hybrid reach of russian aggression, and unwavering Ukrainian resistance, there is the realm of tens of millions of lives affected. The Gray Zone has reached not only the citizens of Ukraine under direct attack, but is also carried internally by millions of refugees and diaspora, and everyone who cares about justice, international law, human rights in a modern era.
I said almost four years ago writing a proposal for another exhibit, while in Kyiv under aerial attack, we had, collectively, entered ‘of a certain generation’ territory once again. And that I was not sure what exactly future elders would remember or murmur about the first quarter of the twenty first century, but I knew there would be, unfortunately, far too much to speak of. The state of the world has declined significantly since then.
As war, extremism, and truth-bending becomes the new normal once again, there comes a moment when we of all ages must ask, did ‘our’ generation totally blow it? Not quite a baby boomer like my siblings, and little connection with fellow Generation X'ers, I came of age with the comfort that those 'of a certain generation' before me had solved the problems of my parents and grandparents world. By my young adulthood the Cold War was defused, and Vietnam was in the history books, and Democracy was expanding. Europe was unifying. Living in Chicago with its diverse Eastern European diaspora, Yugoslavia’s bloody disintegration was my first awareness that cracks had formed in the post-Soviet reordering.
Decades of Eastern European travel built a network of contacts and historical knowledge that made my current work possible. Like a barometer, the pressure changes between Eastern European regions swung wildly in the post-Soviet era, however, I remained optimistic that the unthinkable, unspeakable, couldn't happen in the 21st century. Not on this scale. Of course February 2022 saw the tectonic plates shift, and here we are almost five years into history repeating itself. The vocabulary of modern geopolitics has expanded to once again include incursions, annexations, occupations, filtration, genocide, torture, disappeared persons.
The russian full-scale attack on Ukraine, and its reverberations, continue to spread to other parts of the world, and spread here at home in America, and Chicago, too. Maybe the toughest challenge I've faced in these past five years is connecting the geopolitical dots to others, to explain why Ukraine sovereignty and independence matters in the larger world order, even if you are not Ukrainian, or European. Why the lives and dignity of those far away I've had the honor to deliver humanitarian aid to matters. Why in locations like Kherson City, and in formerly russian occupied territory still infested with land mines, and under daily attack, there is another Gray Zone, the foggy domain of citizens feeling abandonment by the world, even as the unthinkable cloaks and smothers the lights of their once modern, civilized life.
The need for all to participate in Democracy, even when it is imperfect, is more critical than ever. The necessity of leveraging our constitutional rights even as they are eroded. Supporting others even if they are not our kin or clan. I am participating in humanitarian trips, photographing and documenting in Ukraine, because I don’t want future generations to think those of us in this first quarter of the twenty-first century didn’t care, didn’t see it coming, and most important, didn’t remain indifferent.
Glory to Ukraine! Слава Україні!
If you have any questions or feedback, don't be shy - I'd love to hear from you.