A young woman lost her home but didn’t give up and started her own business
After the full-scale Russian invasion, resident of Soledar, Yelyzaveta Pershina, like many of her fellow countrymen, was forced to leave her hometown. She now lives and works in the capital, where she opened her own professional photography studio.
Yelyzaveta shared her experiences about the war, its consequences, and her search for a new identity outside her home with journalists from the YouTube project "Kashtan. Business".
A photograph of her childhood city
“My childhood was very joyful,” recalls Yelyzaveta, reminiscing about her carefree past. “The city is small, but there are some really cool places. I also had a bicycle, and I would ride around. I made big loops: first, I had to reach the top of the city (where we had a church, and, in general, our whole city was on a hill), from where I would ride into the neighborhoods where my friends lived.”
Many children who once held a camera owe this to their parents. In Yelyzaveta's case, her father's gift determined her fate. Moreover, it helped her survive and find herself in a new life.
1 “I started taking photos at home,” the girl continues her memories. “My friends and I would go to the hills, where the views were very beautiful and colorful. We photographed because there were always some lovely colors.”
A step into the profession
At 16, Yelyzaveta moved to Dnipro for her studies and, of course, took her camera with her. She photographed her acquaintances and friends. Over time, everyone in the dormitory learned about the great photographer living nearby and began inviting her to shoot birthdays or other memorable events.
Later, a friend invited Yelyzaveta to work at a modeling agency: there was an interview and a year and a half of work. This happened in the relatively calm year of 2019…
2 The war
“Then I returned home. Just as COVID started, and I spent a few months at home before deciding to come to Kyiv,” Yelyzaveta recounts.
It was in Kyiv that she was caught by the full-scale invasion of the Russians.
3 “At that time, I had acquaintances working at a medical facility. They took me in. There was a group of people who were on duty that day and who simply didn’t return home because of the situation. I stayed there for 50 days,” the interviewee shared.
At that time, her relatives were still living in Soledar. The war was almost right next to them. So, they had gotten used to the idea that “there's something booming somewhere.” Thus, they were not in a hurry to evacuate.
“They wouldn’t listen to me,” Yelyzaveta recalls.
Her aunt was the first to leave with her young nephew. Meanwhile, her older sister thought that if she canned a lot of food, it would save her, and they could just wait it out in the basement. After some time, shells hit that basement…
Her mother was the next to leave. She took almost nothing with her, except for a small suitcase that contained off-season clothes, a phone charger, and documents…
“My mom now lives with me… From what we had left at home, it’s probably just our memories because it’s clear that there’s nothing left to take and nothing to return to. We found out in 2022 that another shell hit our apartment, and this time it was destroyed. They say a shell doesn’t hit the same hole twice: our house was hit four times, and the fourth time was fatal. That’s when my apartment with all its belongings ‘crumbled’,” the photographer girl shared.
The beginning of her own business
4 “I started thinking about business,” Yelyzaveta continues her story. “I looked around and thought: the only thing I need is a space. I definitely need a photo studio. I began searching and found this place. At first, I thought I just needed to paint it. I thought that as soon as I do the repairs, everyone will see it’s me, and they will come to me. I hoped that at least my friends would come first and that I’d recoup some of the money I had already invested. But that didn’t happen…”
“Then I launched advertising, and within a few days, I already had a full schedule for the week. That’s how the studio started operating.”
5 Later, Yelyzaveta thought about improving her photo studio.
“We completely renovated it with friends. The hardest part was painting the walls. They are 3.3 meters high,” the girl recalls.
No turning back
“I thought a lot about how I could possibly return home,” the girl reflects. “The thought that I might never be able to return home scares me! I might never be able to be in Donetsk! It terrifies me to think that I might never return there, that it will be a completely different country…”
For more details, watch the new episode of the YouTube project "Kashtan. Business" at the link