Nunn cares about people’s stories and how Donbas is represented. He was drawn to the small mining settlements where families relax by overgrown riversides, cramped apartment block kitchens, village bars and fading towns now on the doorstep of war at the very edge of Europe. The exhibition presents themes including the dynamics of families; masculinity of young men and fathers; freedom and togetherness, and seemingly inescapable ties with history. 

Nunn’s images capture the quiet moments and the overlooked details that are mostly away from the flashpoints of fighting and the spotlight of international news. With a constant focus on people’s everyday lives, their personal narratives and subjective struggles, his photographs tell small stories that are part of a bigger picture. 

Christopher Nunn says, ‘Everybody had a story to tell. I heard hundreds of stories, from the tragic to hilarious. The Donbas is, to me, beautiful and brutal; a place of comedy and pain. The conflict existed and the people I photographed existed too. Many times, I heard the tired line “we do not live here, we just exist”. Most of my photographs are about simply existing’.

Anne McNeill, Director of Impressions Gallery and curator of the show says “Nunn’s photographs are the antidote to traditional photojournalism, and the Western media’s usual representation of the conflict.  What began as a personal project on memory and belonging has grown into an extensive body of work about the way people think and act with regards to their country, their collective identity, and their history in a time of flux.” 

Borderland: Stories from Donbas is an Impressions Gallery touring exhibition curated by Anne McNeill.

Thanks to our partners and sponsors:

Print sponsor Spectrum Photographic. Publication partner ESSARTER Editions.