Charitable photo exhibition "Every Child"

Photo exhibition «EveryChild» (by S. Crofts, UK) is the view of an outsider at the state of crisis children and families in Ukraine. It raises awareness of the need to prevent children from being separated from their families and communities to put a stop to abuse and exploitation.

Our aim is not to provide a sensationalist, ‘how-bad-things-are' view of life in, say, an orphanage or a crisis family, not to introduce propaganda or to force a view on an audience, but to take an honest straight look at the subjects.

To see an interactive exhibition, please follow the link here >>

It is no secret that in modern Ukraine in difficult economic times there are problems with alcoholism, drug abuse, poverty, unemployment, and diseases such as HIV/AIDS or TB. These problems reflect directly on children in society, who may be separated from their families by abuse or death (in both cases, often caused by those same problems). Families may pass difficulties on to their children or, they may on the contrary give children a new chance.

The most fortunate are those children whose families have either managed somehow to deal with their problems, or who have found a new family environment in which they can integrate and prosper. No matter how dedicated the staff in orphanages, the institutional environment can provide no substitute for the attention and stimulation of being in a close-knit family environment, provided that family is caring and not abusive.

S. Crofts: «My aim was to show something of the subjects as individuals, and the relationship to the people around them, and their own surroundings. Do they look at home in those surroundings, or are they in some way alienated? A photograph is a visual tool, a suggestion, an idea - it shows a person from the outside. No one, even armed with a camera, can really see a person's soul. But a person has both an inside and an outside, and both are important. The objects which surround a person can unconsciously say a lot about the person themselves, and so can the attitude that that person unconsciously adopts in relation to the people who surround them».

About EveryChild Ukraine

EveryChild started working in Ukraine in 1998 and is registered in Ukraine as a Representative Office of a foreign non-governmental organisation with its head office based in London. EveryChild Ukraine is focused on blocking admission of children into institutions and contribute to their onward progression-back to their families, into a form of substitute family care, or moving to some form of independent living. We develop interventions at local and national levels which will lead to the decrease of the number of children living in institutional care. http://www.everychild.org.ua/

About Simon Crofts

Simon is a freelance photographer from Edinburgh, Scotland. He originally studied law at Oxford University, and has lived in Moscow, London, Krakow, Paris, Oxford and Edinburgh. He has been exhibited in Poland, Hungary, Scotland, and England as well as Ukraine. His clients include the EBRD, Royal Denship, Logotec, Dana Corp, and Znak Publishing, as well as many magazines and newspapers. He has won a number of photo awards, including in the London Photographic Awards and the 12th Agfa International Photography Competition. He is represented by Plainpicture agency in Hamburg. His website is at http://www.simoncroftsphoto.com/