Phil Buehler. Together We Stand. Documentation

This art project is an artistic manifesto of solidarity, where documentary practice, historical testimony, and collective energy converge. It unites Ukraine and the United States through a shared act of witnessing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The project speaks about ordinary people — civilians, not politicians — those who defend their country, those who sustain and support life behind the front lines, and those who carry the voice of truth beyond national borders.In mid-September 2025, American artist Phil Buehler and Ukrainian curator Olena Speranska initiated a 360-degree panoramic photographic action in Times Square, New York, on the eve of Ukraine’s Defenders Day.

At the symbolic center of the world’s most visible public space, graphic works from the book Wartime Posters 2022–2023 became instruments of testimony, resistance, and remembrance.

More than seventy participants — activists, refugees, artists, writers, photographers, designers, musicians, journalists, humanitarian leaders, educators, engineers, and members of the public — gathered in a silent circle.

Representing diverse nationalities, ages, and cultural backgrounds, they stood in solidarity with Ukrainian veterans undergoing rehabilitation and prosthetic recovery with the support of the Organizing Ukraine Relief Foundation (New Jersey, USA).Each participant held images created by Ukrainian contemporary artists, transforming the act of standing together into a living monument of empathy and civic responsibility.

These printed works were presented alongside handmade lettering and activist visuals created by the Rebirth.Ukraine, a creative initiative of Ukrainian activists in New York and their supporters.As a result, a special walk-in construction featuring a panoramic documentary photograph — a cyclorama — was built and installed at Zaporizhzhia BIRUCHIY Art Centre to provide visitors with an immersive ‘portal to Times Square’ experience by stepping into it.

Also, captured through Buehler’s lens, these sixty-two portraits preserve a moment that words alone could not contain. The human gaze becomes the primary document — carrying their unposed and unfiltered grief, anger, resilience, dignity, and hope. These portraits reveal the moral position of a democratic society that refuses indifference and affirms its responsibility to stand with those suffering from Kremlin military aggression and violence in Ukraine.

Over the following months, thirteen participants were interviewed in New York, sharing personal reflections on war, justice, and civic responsibility. Their thoughts affirm a shared conviction: neutrality in the face of violence enables injustice, while solidarity becomes an act of protection — not only of a nation, but of democratic values themselves.

As a second part of this project, Phil Buehler undertakes a two-week art residency in Zaporizhzhia, researching historical depth and present-day resistance of a frontline industrial city.  Through photographic and documentary work, he explores its landscapes, infrastructures, and human realities. This research will culminate in a future exhibition dedicated to Zaporizhzhia in United States in 2027, continuing the project’s mission to preserve lived experience and expand international awareness.