2023
"Midnight Express" is an image/text documentary project chronicling my nocturnal voyages on trains number 023/024 between Kyiv and Chelm (Poland) in 2023.
Having never experienced evacuation from Ukraine, my journey began in April 2023 when I purchased my inaugural ticket for a train crossing borders. This narrative revolves around my individual encounters, phobias, and emotions amidst the backdrop of wartime travels. Despite initial trepidation, including fear of confined spaces and other anxieties, I ventured into photography during my travels and maintained a travel journal.
Over subsequent journeys, my anxiety waned, leading me to contemplate ways to enhance the process of documenting the train's environment. Thus, I started to bring my own source of light and diligently worked each night during my train sojourns. I captured scenes of empty cars while fellow passengers slumbered, took self-portraits, and penned down my feelings in my diary.
Totally I took 8 trains between Ukraine and Poland in 2023. The archive of my project contains over 100 photographs in 8 different trains of the same destination. Every journey has a written diary where I describe my feelings, thoughts, my dialogs and dialogs of other passengers.
From the travel diaries:
"16th April 2023.
023K Train, 4 Car, 35 Place
023K Train, 4 Car, 35 Place
Who am I? It has been 3 years since last time I traveled abroad. Covid-19. Then the war. I was afraid to leave my city, my country. What happened to me? I take the train 023K to Poland for the first time. Now I have a feeling that I am learning to travel like for the first time in my life..."
![Tea time](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/118b9220-51be-4688-9380-110c5e889415/033e7921-68e9-4ffc-bb47-20ec13742463_rw_1200.jpg?h=7d6a6dc90678505bbe90c4c8a2e4ed9e)
Tea time
![Self-portrait of fear](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/118b9220-51be-4688-9380-110c5e889415/761db88b-d850-48fe-99a7-9d9330f571d6_rw_1200.jpg?h=4918f334c26cfe623ea5b773255111b7)
Self-portrait of fear
![Herbal tea](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/118b9220-51be-4688-9380-110c5e889415/4be7ea0b-e1f7-4724-b47c-1ccf057f47c0_rw_1200.jpg?h=958858f46eb02ea9de13b78ac78c149b)
Herbal tea
![Self-portrait](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/118b9220-51be-4688-9380-110c5e889415/8c2960ac-a5d8-42a1-aac1-2eb4f2d1a1f8_rw_1200.jpg?h=d528ecde6103df117795718c42a6e883)
Self-portrait
![Сoat hanger installation](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/118b9220-51be-4688-9380-110c5e889415/354cbe48-f893-4770-b636-d86c516c908e_rw_1200.jpg?h=19bd1b5948629040634dcc3d3585dbff)
Сoat hanger installation
![Self-portrait with coat hangers](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/118b9220-51be-4688-9380-110c5e889415/6fe1463a-ca24-434d-b28f-15fb1a6562a8_rw_1200.jpg?h=23006330a6e76c6717ae4db7b27ec054)
Self-portrait with coat hangers
![Diary 16 April 2023](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/118b9220-51be-4688-9380-110c5e889415/fb482ec9-c79d-4c3e-aca7-e28f51c4fe00_rw_1200.jpg?h=babc0edcead20a848d718b53ee03e24f)
Diary 16 April 2023
![Self-portrait in the mirrors](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/118b9220-51be-4688-9380-110c5e889415/f9e8c9c2-bff4-4aeb-8987-dea94b8204b4_rw_1200.jpg?h=33adaa27355d309f88089db1ac9309f2)
Self-portrait in the mirrors
![Water bottles](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/118b9220-51be-4688-9380-110c5e889415/3ea4c604-a98e-4cfd-83e6-69b75d66500f_rw_1200.jpg?h=dc8b25592eacffde4dfd5511b5066737)
Water bottles
![Diary 25 April 2023](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/118b9220-51be-4688-9380-110c5e889415/a5c7b404-d424-4dfb-b5f6-360aab74c525_rw_1200.jpg?h=764bd39b673c47e4fef3a4974a5fd831)
Diary 25 April 2023
![Self-portrait in door mirror](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/118b9220-51be-4688-9380-110c5e889415/b39beab6-e0ff-4d5f-827b-8b4a676ee2e0_rw_1200.jpg?h=c525317063dff8b0b2b2e1e45a406b52)
Self-portrait in door mirror
![Train corridor](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/118b9220-51be-4688-9380-110c5e889415/04582e16-535f-4b13-a6bd-65dcbf48aaba_rw_1200.jpg?h=6d4f02206df9f5c5be097c0a93f204f8)
Train corridor
![Water boiler](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/118b9220-51be-4688-9380-110c5e889415/6cdf9921-2381-45a2-b171-476d5aceb4c0_rw_1200.jpg?h=3d9b8807f8c455cdea387dce0ca5e44f)
Water boiler
![Self-portrait in motion](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/118b9220-51be-4688-9380-110c5e889415/4bfdb17b-e109-46b4-995d-9478b0e5bde0_rw_1200.jpg?h=97e8d7506b43ac5196277f220968a244)
Self-portrait in motion
![Symmetry](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/118b9220-51be-4688-9380-110c5e889415/3fd29afc-da68-43f2-b323-56691e652f9e_rw_1200.jpg?h=70eb7b989feb95314fab4714a2502743)
Symmetry
![Diary 19 November 2023](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/118b9220-51be-4688-9380-110c5e889415/9939bfcf-7c6a-4ffd-b94c-f92a52976b17_rw_1200.jpg?h=d254f92ddbc2ceee317977b1932dbea7)
Diary 19 November 2023
![Covering mirrors](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/118b9220-51be-4688-9380-110c5e889415/28f28c9d-5df5-45c6-bdc4-e4632169d5c9_rw_1200.jpg?h=38c7e1dc38c79c2504e24d0aaad142e5)
Covering mirrors
![Travel passport](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/118b9220-51be-4688-9380-110c5e889415/e037a6be-41f1-4b86-a085-40e82336138f_rw_1200.jpg?h=854fe1ff2aaa2c9f04cbd81d75ef7a18)
Travel passport
![Sister](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/118b9220-51be-4688-9380-110c5e889415/e18fef36-1172-4925-bd10-f72a013830b0_rw_1200.jpg?h=3e7bb7d601a5999f7d6c18976c5a3f99)
Sister
![Self portrait in baggage storage under the seat](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/118b9220-51be-4688-9380-110c5e889415/f7c235c9-4e5f-4dd5-9d37-408f13bef8a3_rw_1200.jpg?h=aaed6222c1d2203c8744512b519bc897)