There is no doubt that images have the power to shape history. That’s even more true for war photographs like photojournalist Nick Ut’s “Napalm Girl” or “Eddie Adams.”Execution of judgment in Saigon“photos, two images have really helped shape Americans’ views of the conflict in Vietnam. In 2022, it is the modern 360 images that will have the power to show the true devastation of Ukraine.
360 photos have long had their place in real estate and art photography, but they have not been used effectively for photojournalism. Much of that could be a barrier to the device or the ability of the end user to actually be able to view these photos in an immersive way without something like Oculus Quest earphone. I toyed with the concept of myself Protesting Black Lives Matter in previous years. It was a laborious endeavor, but it provided a perspective that no single still photograph could provide.
That’s the case with work Nickolay Omelchenko, a Ukrainian virtual travel photographer who found himself in the insurmountable position of a 360 photojournalist with the ongoing war in Ukraine. Omelchenko’s series of before and after photos of famous regions in Ukraine were shared through cinematographer 360 and Youtuber Hugh Hou. Omelchenko compares the areas he captured in 360 before Russia invaded Ukraine to the devastation and devastation after the army passed, and the bombs were dropped. The beautiful areas that were once bustling with tourists in the “before” photo are now ruins and ash in the “after” photo. With a 360 photo, you can pan around and see the damage all around, which really gives a sense of the extent of the damage. It is clear from Omelchenko’s work that the country will take a long time to recover from this conflict.
While the video gives you a way to look at the damage, Omelchenko also put together a series of virtual tours which you can cycle through to see what happened in higher resolution. It was a meaningful use of his talent as a virtual tour maker to capture history in a way that could never be recorded before.
One can only hope that viewing these images can open our eyes to the horrors of the current conflict in Ukraine.
