‘The Grey Zone’: Depicting the people and culture inside the Ukrainian war
Photographer Noah Stone interacting with local Ukrainian men. Photo courtesy of Noah Stone.
Maeve Bauer, Contributing Writer
Shockoe ArtSpace opened its doors for Noah Stone’s first photography exhibition, “The Grey Zone,” documenting the lives of people in Ukraine, On Feb. 1.
Stone, a self-taught photographer from Richmond who currently lives in Lynchburg, started the project after a friend founded a nonprofit that sends aid to Ukraine.
“He kind of presented the opportunity for me to go with him on one of the trips to take photos and get some images for the nonprofit,” Stone said.
Stone said that having his camera on him held great benefits as well as being a deterrent.
“It allows me into some places that I’d never be able to go into otherwise, being an independent journalist going to document this stuff,” Stone said. “But also, it’s definitely been a learning process to know when to put the camera down to get to learn a little bit more about your subject, and be present with them and very intentional with how you tell their story.”
Stone said it is important to build a relationship with the subject or scene he’s shooting, saying it helps bring the photo meaning.
While in Ukraine, Stone said he had many moments reminding him what he came there for, including a time when he stepped on an unexploded missile, was on the front lines with soldiers and traveled out to the east where a lot of the fighting was happening.
“I’ve seen and heard many stories of how the war has affected many people; to homelessness and home loss and displacement, it’s a lot to carry. Personally, it’s been a bit therapeutic and also part of the healing process for me to personally share these photos,” Stone said.
Stone said he felt the need to tell Ukrainian stories after his first trip.
“From that first trip it fully solidified that I had no option, but to fully dive into this. The stories that I heard, the people that I interacted with and the culture I experienced on my first trip to Ukraine were completely life-changing,” Stone said.
Multiple meanings can be taken away from this series, according to Ryan Lauterio, the curator for Shockoe Artspace.
Shockoe Artspace was excited to give Stone his first exhibition, being that one of their goals is to center new artists, according to Lauterio.
Lauterio said that he and Stone met a few years ago at a show. After getting to know him and hearing about his project in the Ukraine, the two decided to work together.
Their goal when creating this exhibition was to humanize Ukrainians, according to Lauterio.
“His care and connection and his real humanizing relationship with the actual people here. Those things were something that we wanted to foreground,” Lauterio said.
Johanna Vogt, the booker for Fox News and a friend of Stone, has gotten a deeper understanding of the war from knowing him.
“I learned a lot more than the statistics from Noah because he has firsthand experience, and that’s always more impactful and more enlightening to know and understand,” Vogt said.
Vogt said she feels that the exhibition does a good job of humanizing the subjects.
“It makes you realize that these types of things are real and these are real people. Especially knowing someone that knows these people brings in a new level to the situation,” Vogt said.
