Photographer Wil Sands will discuss his photo series Waiting for Mother Russia – In Two Acts in advance of the exhibition’s opening on February 11th. His work explores the impact of Ukrainian clashes with Russian loyalists on the civilian experience.

Read the Global Voices interview with Mr. Sands here.

About the Exhibit:
Waiting for Mother Russia – In Two Acts is a series of photographs taken in Ukraine over the past several years during recent clashes with Russian loyalists by photographer Wil Sands. This is the third in the exhibition and community conversation series Conflicted Lands/Occupied Territories exploring violence that is occurring in areas that the international community has not formally or universally declared as war zones. Conflict in these areas impacts civilians and combatants alike is is often overlooked by the media.

About the Photographer:
Wil Sands graduated from Hampshire College with a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts. Shortly after graduating, he moved to Barcelona, where he has been active in various social movements, particularly in prison abolition initiatives. His interest in documentary photography began on a trip to South America in 2007. In the spring of 2011, together with Anderson Barbosa and Guillaume Darribau, William co-founded the Fractures Photo Collective, an independent documentary photography collective based in Barcelona. As a photographer, William is in a constant search for images that complicate dominant discourses.
As a journalist William is guided by the belief that journalism’s role is to “hold truth(s) to power”. As a photographer William searches for stories that add nuance and complexity to public discourse. His work seeks to challenge reductionist narratives that maintain the status quo.

Free and open to the public.

Sponsored by the Global Voices Lecture Series, Art Works Projects, and The Center for East European and Russian/Eurasian Studies at the University of Chicago.