Log history
Previously, Roman photographed beautiful girls, interesting places, clothes from fashion brands and glamorous lives. Now all creative projects are on hold; he is busy filming documentaries in Donetsk. As he says, he records history.
– After the announcement of the start of a special military operation in 2022, I decided that I had to see what was really happening there and tell it through photography. But I couldn’t leave immediately due to difficulties at the border. Only in May we managed to reach Mariupol as volunteers, and after returning, already in July, we went with a humanitarian convoy from Bashkiria to the village of Petrovskoye, where our compatriots helped restore a school. Then I was very surprised how the residents of the LPR honored the memory of the commander of the 112th Bashkir Cavalry Division, Major General Minigali Shaimuratov, put order around the memorial stele and ennobled it, says Roman.
At first he made reports, photographs and videos for his social networks. Soon a woman offered to live in her empty apartment in Donetsk and soon after the man from Ufa got a job here as a photographer. For the second year he works at the Donetsk Rehabilitation Center and documents how schools, kindergartens and roads are rebuilt. He takes pictures of before, during the process and how it happened: a kind of photo reportage.
At some point, the huge photographic material was turned into the exhibition “My New and Old Homeland”, which could be seen in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tula, Kaluga, Novosibirsk and my native Ufa.
War is not just ruins
– How does Donetsk live today?
– Many people imagine that war is just ruins and people move through trenches and basements. But that’s not true. Yes, the war has been going on here for 10 years, someone dies almost every day. At the same time, residents a priori cannot think only about this, otherwise they will go crazy. They go to the movies, to concerts, work, start families; In general, they live and hope for the best,” says Roman. – But, of course, war is near. Once I went to a restaurant for lunch, something thundered nearby, no one ran, everyone continued eating. And when we left, we saw a new shell crater on the road, literally 200 meters from the restaurant. If I had walked here 10 minutes later, you know what would have happened…
According to Roman, the only time he was really scared was when something whistled at him at a gas station. It turned out that it was an air defense missile that shot down the drone literally a few hundred meters away.
Filippov was also accustomed to a hard life: lack of heating supply, water supply according to a schedule (every other day for two hours), etc. At the same time, he notes that compared to July 2022, many things have changed: there are many more people, you can even get into a traffic jam on the road, new buildings have appeared, landscaping elements, the ability to use bank cards. – It feels like the city has come to life.
What was harder to get used to was the fact that some of his so-called friends unfollowed him on social media or blocked him completely.
– They didn’t even try to argue, listen to my point of view, I saw everything with my own eyes and I could say it. It’s probably even good that people like that left my life,” says Roman.
“Bark” for the museum
Recently, a resident of Ufa received a war veteran certificate. The document does not imply benefits granted to the military.
– I am a seconded employee of the Headquarters for the Restoration of Donbass. We all came to the combat zone to perform certain tasks, which is why we have the legal right to receive such a certificate. Among the benefits granted by my “crust” are the priority right to install a telephone in the apartment and acquire a garden plot, vacations at a convenient time and vouchers for sanatoriums if indicated. I was recently in Saint Petersburg and, thanks to my ID, I entered the Hermitage for free,” the photographer smiles.
When asked about his future plans, Roman responds that he has no plans to return home in the near future.
– While we are restoring Donetsk and they need me here, I will stay. When the war is over, it will be possible to think about future plans. For now we are working seven days a week. At this rate, there is no time for creativity; it is necessary to record a photo story. At the moment this is more important,” she noted.
On many houses in Donetsk you can see the inscriptions “people live.” This helps against looting and is a kind of signal for the volunteers. Photo: From the personal archive of Roman Filippov.
In another life
We met Roman Filippov in 2021, after he made Yuri Vetlugin, a simple janitor from Ufa, famous throughout the country in a photo shoot. It just so happened that Yura grew up in an orphanage where Roma’s grandmother worked. The woman helped the boy, after leaving a social institution, to get the housing required by law, and then for many years she fought with scammers who tried to take over the orphan’s square meters.
As a result, the scammers managed to take advantage of Yura’s gullibility, associated with the peculiarities of his health. They took out several loans for Vetlugin, after which her entire salary and disability pension began to be written off due to debts. Then Roman came up with the idea of talking about the janitor and his problem using photographs on the Internet.
– For me it was important that Yura’s story reached everyone. Therefore, I used the technique of juxtaposition: I filmed him in everyday life: how he works near the garbage bins, relaxes in his laundry room, and spent the second photo session in a professional studio in stylish clothes and a new hairstyle. . “I wanted to show what Yura would have been like if her fate had been different,” says the photographer.
When processing one of the photographs, Roman designed it as a magazine cover. The photo session of the janitor Yura caused a huge resonance. Complete strangers began transferring money to her, thanks to which she was able to close her loan and renovate her apartment. Yura became famous: photographs of him were published in magazines, the man was invited to photo shoots and even a film was made about him.
The life of Diana from the Bashkir village of Arkhangelskoye after a photo session with Roman Filippov did not change so dramatically, but he also helped her.
– Diana is my follower on social media, who despite having cerebral palsy, works on herself every day and achieves results. At the same time, she needs to do physical therapy and there was no special gym in the regional center. Her mother had to take her daughter to Ufa three times a week: two hours in one direction and two in the other, says Roman Filippov.
She agreed with representatives of a famous brand, who provided free clothes for the shooting and held a photo session of the girl in different images. Soon after, a specialized hall for the rehabilitation of people with disabilities was opened in Arkhangelskoye.
