25/08/2026
“It’s a very dangerous moment,” says Paolo Pellegrin, who, alongside The New York Times correspondent James Verini—author of the new book The Theater, published by Simon & Schuster—has extensively documented the war in Ukraine, recording the stories of survivors and soldiers on the front lines.
In the weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the Drama Theater in Mariupol became a refuge for civilians during the Russian siege of the city. On March 16, 2022, the theater was bombed, killing an estimated 600 people. Pellegrin's portraits of survivors reflect his proximity to their emotional vulnerability: “It’s somehow sacred, in the sense that you’re dealing with the essential questions of life and death,” he says.
After the Mariupol Theater bombing, Pellegrin journeyed for 4,000 miles throughout Ukraine, witnessing besieged cities and embedding with soldiers. Photographs, for Pellegrin, are records of history. "I think it’s important that we go out into the world and document what we do to each other,” he says.
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