Foam presents War is Personal, a solo exhibition by Ukrainian photojournalist and documentary filmmaker Julia Kochetova. As a part of a new generation of image-makers directly affected by the war in Ukraine, Kochetova documents it from within. Her images have been published in international media outlets such as The Guardian, Der Spiegel, DIE ZEIT and Bloomberg. Drawn from her own experiences, Kochetova brings visitors close to life on the front lines, where she explores the fragile boundary between documenting, mourning, and surviving.  

War is Personal emerged from a desire to bridge the gap between statistics and lived experience. While international media often reduce war to numbers, cropping the human presence out of images, Kochetova insists on showing that war is, above all, personal. Her images reveal how war permeates the home, the body and the language of those who remain. War is Personal functions as a visual diary, offering an intimate portrait of everyday life in a country at war.   

The title War is Personal reflects Kochetova’s conviction that war cannot be understood from a distance: every story has a name, a face, and a body. The exhibition is an invitation to restore empathy at a time when images of violence have become normalized. 

 The exhibition War is Personal is part of a research trajectory within Foam’s artistic programme, launched in early 2024 under the title The Camera as a Weapon, which included a pop-up exhibition of the same name and a symposium. In a time marked by conflict, Foam poses the question: what can photography do? Alongside exhibitions such as Sakir Khader – Yawm al-Firak, The Underground Camera and Co Rentmeester – Witnessing Life, the museum responds to current events by presenting artistic practices in which the camera functions as a weapon; used not only to document, but also to defend and to confront. 

About the artist

Julia Kochetova (1993) is a Ukrainian photojournalist and documentary filmmaker based in Kyiv. Kochetova studied journalism at the Taras Shevchenko National University and the Mohyla School of Journalism in Ukraine and participated in the IDFA Academy in the Netherlands. Since 2013 she has worked as an independent journalist and photographer. She documented the Maidan Revolution (2013–2014), the annexation of Crimea (2014), and the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine (since 2014). Kochetova focuses on firsthand storytelling: direct reporting rooted in her personal experience. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, Der Spiegel, Vice News, DIE ZEIT, Bloomberg and TIME France. She has received an Emmy Award and was among the global winners of World Press Photo 2024.

Julia Kochetova – War is Personal is on view from 6 March until 25 May 2026 at Foam.

Open daily 10.00 – 18.00 hrs, Thurs/Fri 10.00 – 21.00 hrs.
  

Foam
Keizersgracht 609
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