Under the Palm Trees

Under the Palm Trees follows Ukraine's western external borders—the geographical line separating Europe from war. From Poland to the Black Sea, the work explores how the presence of war is tangible in its absence.

In the third week of the war, a Polish border guard tells me that everything has changed. In the same town, a hotelier insists that nothing has changed. These two statements frame the tension at the heart of the project. Along this border, the war feels both intensely present and strangely distant, often barely noticeable. Under the Palm Trees explores this contradiction, tracing the confusion between everyday life and a permanent state of emergency.

Since the beginning of the war, I have followed Ukraine’s western border with a large-format camera through Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, the Republic of Moldova, and Transnistria. The work documents how the war shapes these regions in subtle and uneven ways, revealing perspectives that remain largely absent from mainstream coverage.

In recent months, the war has increasingly crossed the border: drones have exploded in Moldova and Romania, Polish airspace has been violated, and acts of sabotage and espionage are rising. What once seemed distant is moving closer. It is precisely in these border regions that Europe's supposed distance from the war is beginning to crumble.