Maryna Syrovatka - Don’t Worry, I’m Fine

Don’t Worry, I’m Fine is Maryna Syrovatka’s debut photobook, developed from a long-term project about displacement and personal trauma, an archive of a time when lives split into “before” and “after.”

Beginning in March 2022, Maryna invited Ukrainians who had fled the war to her Bratislava studio for conversations and portraits. The studio’s neutral, safe setting removes the daily context so the focus shifts entirely to the individual. This deliberate detachment moves the work beyond straight reportage into a deeper personal narrative.

The book is a visual diary and a time capsule: lives broken into pieces, memories held still in time and space. Close-up portraits are interwoven with the artist’s photographs of her peaceful, everyday city, reflecting how heavy, disturbing updates reshaped the way she saw her own life.

Don’t Worry, I’m Fine has been selected for the PHotoESPAÑA Best Photography Book of the Year Award, in the category First Publication.

Selected by Photometria Photobook 2026