Inshallah

Inshallah (God willing in Arabic) is a project that explores the Soviet and American occupations of Afghanistan, and draws on my childhood fantasies that romanticize the military and intertwine with my past and present personal conflicts.

As a Ukrainian who was born and raised in the former Soviet Union, this is the second time that I live in a country that is fighting a war in Afghanistan.

In my work I create a dark fairytale filled with my fears and dreams, based on my fascination with the army’s strength and order, set on the front lines of what has become America’s longest running war in history. Mesmerized by the complexity of the Afghan chaos, I strive to better comprehend my personal relationship to these wars: two empires, two mentalities, same battlefield, twelve years apart.

About the photographer

Dima received his Master of Fine Arts degree with honors from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2012. He obtained his first degree in Kiev, Ukraine in 2000 as a Director of Photography in Motion Picture Imaging.

For the past 12 years Dima has worked as a documentary photographer with major publications and news agencies such as Associated Press, Bloomberg News and Agence France-Presse. He has also worked on multiple projects around the globe, including collaborations with Doctors Without Borders and the United Nations Population Fund and numerous recent embeds with the US Army in Afghanistan. Dima’s work has appeared in a variety of international publications, including New York Times, Stern, Paris Match and Time.

Over the past two years Dima has been exploring the American war in Afghanistan through video installation, photography, appropriated imagery and data visualization.

Currently, Dima is working on publishing his first book.