When trouble erupts somewhere in the world, people flee for safety, or desperately hope to.
Tyler Hicks picks up his camera, boards a plane, and heads right there.
The 1988 Staples High School graduate has earned international renown — and many honors, including the Pulitzer Prize — with his photos from war zones, catastrophes and natural disasters. He has reported on the beauty, the people and the tragedies of Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, Kenya and dozens of other spots around the globe.
Now Hicks is in Ukraine. As Russian tanks, armor and military threaten the nation, Hicks has trained his eye on the landscape and human beings behind the story.
These are from a town incongruously named “New York.” Close to the Russian front lines, it is home now to mostly older people — and a highly toxic chemical plant.
Hicks also visited Svitlodarsk in eastern Ukraine, where disputes have raged for years.
(All photos by Tyler Hicks, courtesy of The New York Times)
It’s a long way from the Westport of Tyler Hicks’ youth, to the threatened streets, woods and railroad tracks of Ukraine.
It’s easy to ignore the lives of the men, women and children there. Tyler Hicks’ photos make sure we don’t.
(Hat tip: John Karrel)