SEPTEMBER 21, 1977 — JUNE 10, 2024
46 YEARS, PHOTOGRAPHER
Arsen Fedosenko smiled and captured photos. Even on the frontlines. He showed us the faces of Ukrainian heroes in military clothing in pixels. A colleague reports: "He passed away with a camera in his hands, working on a mission."
For several months, Arsen served in the 518th Battalion of the 1st Separate Special Purpose Brigade named after Ivan Bohun. He was a photographer for the Armed Forces of Ukraine's media center: his war photo reports had appeared in news agencies' feeds for two years. He documented Russian war crimes and, tragically, lost his life during one of them — he was mortally wounded by an airstrike in the Kharkiv region.
"Sometimes my portraits become the last ones for my heroes. Unfortunately, photography doesn't shield from bullets, but it can protect from oblivion, becoming an invaluable document," Arsen shared in one interview.
His friends say that time had a mysterious way of not touching either his appearance or his pure soul. According to those close to him, it was because he never kept track of time. Being late everywhere he could was his signature trait. Yet Arsen gave all his time and energy to what truly mattered to him: his family, his beloved wife and two sons, and his art — that was his strength.
By education, Arsen was a graphic artist. He began photographing in his second year of university and, since 2010, worked on artistic and cultural photo projects in collaboration with the National Philharmonic of Ukraine and the Italian Embassy. He was also the author of exhibitions, with his works preserved in private collections in Ukraine, Norway, and Germany.
Aside from photography, Arsen was passionate about winemaking. He would often speak of his new project and promised to treat everyone to his sparkling wine. He visited every vineyard in Ukraine and once even kept watch overnight to catch the first rays of the sun and share with people the birth of a new day.
In the final years of his life, Arsen worked on a themed calendar featuring Ukrainian soldiers, signed by the former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhny, and he created those photographs. The calendar was sold in large numbers. To make this photoshoot possible, he traveled extensively, visiting numerous military training grounds and airbases.
"Be open. Accept and internalize others' pain. Remain objective. Earn the trust of those you speak to. Remember each person you've encountered, along with their dreams. Do everything to ensure we know our heroes and never forget our enemies." These were Arsen's last words on Facebook, posted symbolically on Journalist's Day.
Arsen was laid to rest in Baikove Cemetery.
