Revolution on the Maidan, Volume I

I first went to Kyiv’s Maidan expecting to photograph a small demonstration.

Then I returned.

The crowd had grown.

So I kept bringing my camera.

Revolution on the Maidan, Volume I records the opening stage of what would become Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity. The photographs follow the square as an initially limited protest expands, particularly after dark, when crowds gather, police lines form, flags rise above the square, and the atmosphere begins to change.

Nothing here was photographed with the benefit of hindsight. At the time, nobody standing in the square knew where the protests would lead or how high the eventual cost would become.

That uncertainty is part of the record.

Volume I contains photographs 1–232 in one continuous chronological series. The sequence continues directly through Volumes II and III, creating a visual documentary of Maidan from its early gatherings through revolution, memorial, and aftermath.

These photographs show the beginning—before anyone knew exactly what had begun.