It took me more than a year after moving to Wales to pick up my camera again. The weight of displacement and uncertainty had temporarily dimmed my creative light. As a mother of two children with special needs, whom I’ve been raising alone for over 10 years, I understand deeply what it means to feel empty, to lose yourself and your sense of beauty.
Ksenya Bratkova
But then something changed. I finally took a brave step toward fulfilling my long-held dream – photographing women’s portraits. I took out a loan to buy my dream camera (we had arrived with just two small suitcases, leaving everything else behind) and began creating magic.
What I do isn’t just photography – it’s a form of healing. I see how women’s eyes change during our sessions, how they fill with tears of joy when they see their portraits. Many can’t believe they can look so beautiful in photos. I witness their transformation as confidence returns and their hearts fill with love again.
I don’t work for money now. You could say I’m volunteering on the frontline of psychological support for women. Every photo session becomes a journey of rediscovery – both for my subjects and for me. When I work with other women, I feel like I’m sharing a piece of my strength with them.
My approach has changed significantly since the war began. I don’t take photos just for the sake of photography anymore. I’m not interested in the “I’m a photographer, this is my vision” approach. When a woman carries an unbearable psychological burden, seeing herself in an unflattering photo could seriously aggravate her trauma.
That’s why my creative vision now is about seeing beauty through the eyes of the woman in front of my lens. I understand that our displaced community rebuilds itself much slower when torn from our native land. But through art, through photography, we can find our way back to ourselves.
I’ve seen this healing process unfold countless times now. A nervous smile at the beginning of a session transforms into genuine joy by the end. Eyes that started dull with worry begin to sparkle with renewed confidence. Each click of my camera captures not just an image, but a moment of restoration.
In my next post, I’ll share more about my Heritage project, where I combine portrait photography with elements of Ukrainian culture to help preserve our identity abroad. This project has become a powerful way for Ukrainian women to reconnect with their roots while embracing their new reality.
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This post is part of a series sharing stories from the Ukrainian community in Wales.
