I borrowed the title of the 1996 film for this entry, although the topic is very different. Julia Kochetova is Ukranian. A young artist, she lives through the war on a daily basis and she takes photographs of those making it and suffering from it. Her photos are a reflection of what she sees and it is very up close and personal. The title of the exhibit at FOAM says it as well “War is Personal”. Portraits of young men and women, wounded and marked by battle, all seen through Julia Kochetova’s lens from the front row. No distance, no filter, the plain reality. Stunning and deeply moving pictures of men suffering, amputated, covered in blood, stories behind the pictures that pull tears when reading them. So, experiencing this exhibition, from the comfort of peaceful Amsterdam, makes the war in Ukraine feel very much closer, and very much more personal.
