About

UKR 2020

Railroad

Ladies /2020

This is a series of portraits of people who work as traffic controllers and safety officers at railroad crossings.

In Ukraine, the railroad traffic controller profession still exists and about 80% of workers are women. They spend long shifts in small dedicated buildings beside the tracks.

Ukrainian photographer Sasha Maslov shot portraits of female workers of the Ukrainian railway company from all over the country, which are compiled in a photo book by Osnovy Publishing.

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Sasha Maslov was born
in Kharkiv, an industrial
town in the east of Ukraine. After finishing his education he traveled for some time and settled in New York City at the age of 24. Since then he has established himself as a photographer renowned for his work in environmental portraiture and visual storytelling.

Maslov has a keen eye for the unnoticed and builds comprehensive visual narratives with his photographs. He is a regular contributor to a number of leading publications in the U.S. and Europe.

You can also check all the sasha’s work on his personal website

Much of Maslov's work has concentrated on exploring his native Ukraine.

Ukrainian Railroad Ladies book won the Lens Culture Exposure Awards in Jury Selection and Sony World Photo.

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The women spend most of their time in solitude, working 12-hour shifts every two or three days, depending on their location.

After war broke out in 2014, when Russian-backed separatists seized territory in eastern Ukraine, the crime rate rose throughout the country, and some of the railway buildings were vandalized.

Since then, some have been covered with protective wiring.

2014

The country’s railway system has a total working mileage of over 22,000 kilometers (13,670 miles), making it the 13th-largest network in the world.

Ukraine’s first railroad line, built in 1861, connected Lviv, Cracow, and Vienna.

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Unfazed by the passing of trains and time, they are here to stay.

While the country and the world are consumed with larger, more pressing issues, the women with their folded yellow flags play a big — if silent — role in everyday life.

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