Government agencies preparing to go to the frontlines in Ukraine, receive on-site training by volunteers of Prevail Together, a not-for-profit organization that provides free Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) training, landmine clearance and medical support to government agencies. Undisclosed location, Ukraine. Dec. 12, 2024.
Making Land Safe
Nastassia Kantorowicz Torres | Ukraine
Organization: Stringer Sipa Press/ Freelance
Photographer: Nastassia Kantorowicz Torres
Organization: Stringer Sipa Press/ Freelance
Exhibit Title: Making Land Safe
Location: Ukraine
Ukraine is the country with the most landmines and unexploded ordinance in the world, covering a quarter of the entire country. “Making Land Safe” highlights a foreign small NGO in the demining sector of Ukraine, Prevail Together, led by Chris Garret. Chris is a British 40-year-old man, partner, father, Explosive Ordonnance Disposal (EOD) expert and director of Prevail Together. He has been volunteering in Ukraine since 2014, where he first joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine and fight in Mariupol, amongst other Russian occupied territories. Dedicated, motivated, he leads a group of 7 volunteers from diverse backgrounds. The team range from foreign retired military to EMS, all with one common goal: to avoid the largest number of injuries and deaths caused by landmines by landmine education. Landmines pose a threat to Ukrainians and impedes reconstruction efforts impacting global food security due to Ukraine’s agricultural exports. “Making Land Safe” depicts a huge effort of a small NGO committed to landmine clearance, education. They hope to reach EOD status, fighting against wealthier NGOs, for a long-term post-war solution implemented during the war.
Adobe AI generative erase tool has been used in some images to remove sensitive information. Location, names, and faces cannot be disclosed to protect the identity of some of the participants and locations.
Nastassia Kantorowicz Torres is a Colombian freelance visual nonfiction artist and photojournalist whose work is centered around driving change through visual communication. She is a freelance photojournalist, stringer for SIPA Press and a member of Women Photograph. She is based between Kyiv, Ukraine and Paris, France. Her focus is on post-war actions during war, migration, water and the underlying social bonds of communities through a gender-based perspective.
Nastassia was the recipient of the 2018 Documentary Essay Prize of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. She was an International Women's Foundation (IMSF) Women on The Ground: Reporting from Ukraine’s Unseen Frontlines fellow, IWMF's 2019 Adelante Fellow (Colombia/ Venezuela Fellow) and a National Geographic COVID-19 Emergency Fund for Journalists 2020 grant recipient.
Before photography, she worked in development projects in Colombia and as a humanitarian aid worker with Doctors without Borders (MSF) in Eastern African countries. During the Pandemic, Nastassia took a break from photography consulting for Colombian foundations and NGOs. She also holds a master’s degree in Public Affairs from Sciences-Po Paris. In 2017, she completed a postgraduate certificate in Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism from the International Center of Photography (New York City, USA).
"In Ukraine, tackling mine action from all sides to make land safe again", UNDP. October 14, 2024.
"Ukraine Is Using AI to Help Clear Millions of Russian Landmines" by Vera Bergengruen, Time Magazine. November 2, 2023.
Email: nastassiamkt@pm.me
WhatsApp: + 380 98 557 6832
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