QUEENS OF UKRAINE

Six photographs were created in the first week of the war in Ukraine, as an immediate response to the unfolding events.

The project by photographer Bet Orten focuses on Ukrainian women working in the Czech Republic — women who have long supported their families back home, and who, at the outbreak of war, were suddenly trying to bring their loved ones to safety.

Each portrait is connected to their homeland through printed photographic backdrops — images taken in the first days of the war by Ukrainian photographers.

The works were auctioned shortly after their creation.

The series was later exhibited at the Lobkowicz Palace, where both the photographs and the original printed fabrics used as backdrops were also auctioned.

All proceeds were directed to specific individuals as immediate aid at the beginning of the war.