Photographer Mark Neville spoke candidly to the crowd gathered at the A-Frame Theater, saying “It’s about offering an honest reflection of people who feel unseen, unknown, forgotten.”
His work as a photographer is currently focused on the frontlines of the war in Ukraine, from teenage women dressed in military uniforms to farmers with missing limbs posing with their livestock. The trauma is visible in their eyes.
The Wende Museum put a spotlight on Neville’s work about the war in Ukraine on September 10 and 11, 2026, with events at the Westwood Contemporary and the Glorya Kaufman Center. The Westwood Contemporary, a pop-up extension of the Wende at 1101 Westwood Blvd. is hosting Diary of a Volunteer, an exhibit of Neville’s work.
Neville has lived and worked in Kyiv since 2020, making these pictures alongside humanitarian aid trips to frontline towns. They show children growing up in war zones, volunteers supplying their neighbors, and families holding on to routine, dignity, and hope.
For the show at the Westwood, guest curators each chose one photograph and wrote about why it matters now. Every photograph is a powerful part of the story.
At the Glorya Kaufman, Neville was interviewed by the Wende’s Chief Curator, Joes Segal, and went into heartfelt detail about the suffering in Ukraine, and the healing power of art. Asked about his decision to use black and white film for some photos, he offered “It’s about shadow, and texture…there’s an almost unconscious sense of solemnity that can be emphasized with the black and white film. It’s about putting the frame of history around a fleeting moment.”
He was one of the creators of the non-profit organization Postcode Ukraine, raising funds to get urgently needed supplies to the people in the most targeted war zones.
Neville already had experience with war and trauma photography through his work with former soldiers on the book The Battle Against Stigma. That two-volume set was a focus on the PTSD and addiction issues that most people returning from combat experience, and cannot access help for.
He was already living there in Kyiv when Russia attacked, and the decision to stay, to distribute aid and create art, is one that has taken a toll on his own mental health. “We have to go back and move to another apartment; we’ve only been in the States for a short while, but the area we live in has been heavily bombed. It’s no longer habitable. There are missile strikes, seven, eight times a night. You can’t imagine how terrifying it is, every day.”
As an artist, he uses his eye for composition and color to send a narrative out to the rest of the world.
Postcode Ukraine: Diary of a Volunteer is on view September 11 through 30, 2026. All proceeds support Postcode Ukraine, the Kyiv-based charity Neville co-founded, which has funded more than $500,000 in local aid since 2022.
Judith Martin-Straw
