Humans of NY Post - Ashlyn

 I like how Brandon Stanton recently revisited some of his photographs and stories from when he went to Ukraine in 2013 and 2014. He reshared a few images and stories/quotes from people he met in Odessa, Ukraine from his HONY archives. In particular, photos of an old woman wearing a mustard yellow dress and frilly hat stood out to me in particular. The woman, who's not named in the short piece Stanton wrote about her, initially refused his request to photograph her. But, another woman passing by stopped and spoke to her in Ukrainian and said "You must not refuse a photo, because you must represent the women of your land. Go to eternity!" This is especially powerful now, considering the war that Russia has waged on Ukraine in the past month and a half. Given the fact that Ukraine has been fighting against Russian forces so fiercely, both the woman in the photo and the Ukrainian people in general are symbolic of the country's values. Though attacks by Russia have primarily been in Northern/Northeastern Ukraine and Odessa lies in the Southeast, the stark difference between this photo of the woman in the yellow dress and images we see of Ukraine currently are starkly different. The sky is blue, the sidewalk clear, the woman looking content in her colorful outfit. Now, images we see of Ukraine are grey, families fleeing bombs, blood on the sidewalks and bodies in the streets. This image of the woman is powerful in that it serves as a reminder of the strength and resilience of the Ukrainian people, how they represent and carry themselves.