I travel in my sleep

I travel in my sleep - is an ongoing photo series of Maryna Brodovska, where she documents sleeping places she has as a forced emigrant since the full-scale war started in Ukraine in 2022.

I travel in my sleep - the ongoing series of sleeping places I have as a forced emigrant since the full-scale war started in Ukraine in 2022.

This project starts on the second night after the russian invasion in Ukraine in the basement of Kyiv’s hospital morgue. Here begins my forced journey to find a safe place to sleep. I photograph beds in homes, towns and countries shared with me by people I meet on this unplanned route through Ukrainian and European cities. After a year away, I was fortunate to return to my bed in Ukraine. But after the first night, I realized I couldn’t sleep there. Constant shellings and drone attacks turned my bed—once a sanctuary—into a place of fear and insecurity. My sense of home had vanished. I had to leave, hoping that one day, the war would be over, and the feeling of home would return.

Earlier, in peaceful life, sleeping places during travels did not carry much meaning: hotels, hostels, guesthouses, and sofas in friends' homes were just a stopover to rest between new experiences and impressions. Now, the bed has taken on the symbolic meaning of a "safety island," and sharing a place to sleep with a stranger has become a profound gesture of compassion and kindness, extended to me by people of different nationalities, ages, and social backgrounds.

As of the end of 2024, the series consists of 30+ pictures of sleeping places in different European cities.