Artist’s Statement

The infants and children photographed are just a few of more than 500,000 orphaned, abandoned and neglected children living in Ukrainian orphanages.The photographs were taken in May 2001, February 2002 and August 2002 during visits to two orphanages in Lviv, Ukraine. The black-white images express innocence, sadness, joy, loneliness and forced independence weaving a photomontage in our minds of the desperate human condition experienced on these visits. The color images seek to capture the fragile hope and joy that a fortunate few of the thousands have come to experience.

The photos’ intentions are to show how these children exist from day to day with little hope of a family as most of us have been blessed with. Let’s think how and infant’s, toddlers and young child’s life affects their future.These children and many more like them in Ukraine instinctively hope and dream for the same events that all children thirst for; to play, to eat, to sleep, to be happy, to be held and to call someone, “my mother’! Will their dreams come true? There will be a few fortunate ones yet many will remain behind who daily hunger for warmth of love and hope of a future.

They are STARVING FOR COLOR