MAKS LEVIN: THE FINAL PHOTOGRAPHS

Ukrainian photojournalist Maksym “Maks” Yevhenovych Levin (1980–2022) was found dead in a forest north of Kyiv on April 1, 2022. He was last seen on March 13, attempting to recover a camera drone that was shooting images of the Russian invasion. Reporters Without Borders concluded that he had been captured and executed by Russian soldiers. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posthumously awarded Levin the Order of Courage (Third Degree) “for personal courage and selfless actions shown during the coverage of Russian aggression.”

Levin devoted nearly a decade to chronicling the unfolding history of Ukraine and his work became well known through local media and global news agencies such as the BBC, Associated Press, and Reuters. He shifted to war photography when Russia invaded Crimea and the Donbas in 2014, and his practice intensified with the full invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The photographs in this exhibition capture the first weeks of the invasion in the environs of Kyiv. They are among the last Levin made. Presented in partnership with the Center for Persecuted Arts, Solingen.

Credit: Overview from museum website