I Hope Your Family is Safe

After nine years living abroad, Ukrainian photographer Anya Tsaruk returns to her homeland to document the lives of her loved ones during the war. Titled echoing a hopeful encouragement often expressed to her by foreigners, "I Hope Your Family is Safe" offers a tender, nuanced perspective on today’s Ukraine — one that co-exists with pain and devastation, yet is often overlooked. With care and sensitivity, Tsaruk invites us to notice what becomes especially precious when life is lived under threat — the sacred ordinary in the lives of people who call Ukraine home. Rather than highlighting the brutality of war, Tsaruk tells a story of love, faith, and resilience — expressed in a personal and poetic way, with a focus on human bonds. In doing so, she challenges the simplified narratives of war and the imagined “othering” of people whose lives have been deeply affected by it. Her project invites us to ground our empathy not in pity, but in a recognition of the universal values, fears and hopes.