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and young people waiting in line so quickly leave it to Kiran who was climbing on the truck to get a better angle . I was lost somewhere in my thoughts when Andriy informed us he had the location of an apartment building that had been hit and we should go .
The constant memory I have when photographing scenes of recent destruction is the beeping of the cleanup vehicles . These large metallic creatures devouring piles of smoking debris that were once people ’ s houses and possessions . Kiran was about to add another award winner to his images , as we met seventy-five-year-old Ilia , and his daughter Lievbov , digging through the rubble of his house looking to save anything possible . The fires were not fully out , but already a frantic cleanup operation was underway , and it seemed like everyone was involved .
Looking through my long lens , allowing myself a little distance from the destruction , a broken window with an old lady staring out grabbed my focus . As I brought her into view , she remained motionless , staring blankly at the courtyard action below . Later we entered her building and spoke with her daughter , but she remained motionless from the shock of the explosion , as if her soul had left the earth but somehow her body was still with us . A couple of days later her daughter messaged us to tell us she had passed . I wasn ’ t surprised , but what I couldn ’ t get over was the “ thank you ” for being there in her note . Immediately overwhelmed by how powerless I felt , I just couldn ’ t believe at this time of such tragic loss her daughter could be thanking us .
We learned a school and a hospital had been hit nearby and quickly found the school . Mercifully , no children had been present but the damage was horrendous , and we
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