Since the annexation of Crimea: Photographer from Bavaria in the middle of the war - "Ukraine is my life's work"
Created: 05/27/2022, 12:24 p.m
By: Jonas Napiletzki
Florian Bachmeier in Serbia in 2017. © imago/ZUMA Wire/Sachelle Babbar
Florian Bachmeier was in the Ukraine for two weeks between air raids and impacts.
The photographer wants to document the fate of the country.
Schliersee
- Florian Bachmeier was born in Tegernsee, grew up in Schliersee (Miesbach district) and took photos in the Ukraine.
As a member of the N-Ost news network, the 47-year-old documents people in war-torn countries.
He is not wearing protective gear.
Florian Bachmeier stumbled into Ukraine.
That was in 2013. He was in the process of portraying the white death - he was taking pictures of tuberculosis in Moldova - when the Euromaidan flared up in Kyiv.
"And then everything happened very quickly," says Bachmeier.
He traveled to Ukraine, the violence escalated.
People died on the Maidan.
When Russia annexed Crimea and the war began, the photographer from Schliersee was already in the middle of it.
That was in 2014. Nothing has changed to this day.
Bachmeier regularly photographs in the Ukraine.
Also in 2022.
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Ukraine war: Photographer wants to document fates
He is not a classic war correspondent, says Bachmeier.
He has always been interested in Eastern Europe.
The war then came to him via Ukraine and so.
He would have wished otherwise.
But: Staying at home because of the war would not be an option for the photographer either.
"I feel obliged to continue my work on site," he says in a slightly raspy voice.
"To document the war.
My way.”
At a meeting with our editorial team after one of his trips, he shows pictures of a man at the checkpoint in Holoskiv, of a baptism in Kyiv, of a refugee from Kharkiv.
She was not allowed to leave the country with her sons of military age - even though they are disabled.
At the border, the sons didn't believe their limitations.
Bachmeier focuses on people like these.
He doesn't want to let her down.
Right now, after such a long occupation and such great love for the country, he wants to document their fate.
But he does not want to emphasize his commitment.
"It's something that every journalist or photographer who works on these issues encounters."
War photographer: "Ukraine has become my life theme"
Such topics - that also means danger for your own body.
"The shelling continues," says the father of a family in a voice message to the editors, which he sends from Ukraine.
In Ukraine, however, he is less concerned about himself than about the people he works with.
While distant impacts are calculable, airstrikes on cities are not.
He would like to work with protective equipment, he emphasizes.
However, local logistics and the budgets of his clients did not always allow for this.
His family accepted the two-week trips anyway.
His work, his commitment.
"And that Ukraine has become my life theme in recent years."
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After a trip to the Ukraine: Photographer vom Schliersee spends a lot of time with his family
Back from the East, the time belongs to his wife and his four- and eight-year-old children – but not alone.
Bachmeier also takes photos for newspapers, magazines, corporate customers or websites as part of other projects.
He cannot let go of Ukraine.
"These are pictures that have to be taken in order to bear witness," emphasizes Bachmeier.
In doing so, he wants to make a contribution to classifying the war.
His view is always subjective.
"But that's exactly where the magic of photography lies." It is the result of conscious engagement with the world.
Florian Bachmeier takes photos out of conviction.
You can find more current news from the district of Miesbach and the Tegernsee region at Merkur.de/Miesbach.
