Photojournalist and Documentary Photographer / Resident of Ukraine since 2014 / speaking Ukrainian and documenting the war in Ukraine for The Wall Street Journal
Biography:
Christopher Occhicone is a documentary photographer and photojournalist based in Kyiv, Ukraine for the last 14 plus years. He covers general and breaking news, as well as the war in Ukraine. For more than four years, he has been working on an...
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Focus:Photographer, Photojournalist, Journalist, Health, Environment, History, Documentary, News, Domestic, Foreign, Portraiture, Humanitarian, Human Rights, Artist
Skills:Digital Printing, Photo Assisting, Color Correction, Film Scanning, Photo Editing, Black & White Printing, Color Printing, Print Making, Curating, Copywriting, Exhibition Design, Photojournalism, Film Photography
The Johnston family spends time together at their North Carolina home. Parents Chris and Julianna have 4 biological children and have adopted 4 special needs children; 3 from Ukraine and 1 from Hong Kong.
With 8 Children, a large part of daily life at the Johnston home takes place around the kitchen. Miriam, 13 and recently adopted from Ukraine, watches her mother prepare lunch while Slavek, also from Ukraine, waits to be hand fed his lunch.
Anna, 15, relaxes on the living room floor. When Chris transported her from the orphanage in Ukraine to the United States in December 2018, she weighed under 20 pounds and was severely malnourished. She has since doubled her weight with the help of a feeding tube port in her stomach. Her caloric intake had to be slowly increased from the 300 calories she had been receiving to her current intake of 1200 calories. Too sudden of a jump to a normal diet can cause a severe reaction and possible death.
The Johnston family takes their evening walk. Lea, 10, attends to Miriam while other members of the family pick berries. At the time of Miriam's adoption she was unable to stand on her own. Now she is able stand alone and walk with the help of a walker and arm and ankle braces. The family has been slowly extending her walking distance and standing time in order to build her strength. The hope is that she will eventually walk on her own.
The Johnston family sets up before their Sunday Church service and pot luck lunch while speaking with friends from their Church community. Members of the community are familiar with the adopted children and casually interact with them. This is in strong contrast to the Soviet orphanage system that is still in place in Ukraine. An inherent feature of that system is that the institutions are often located on the outskirts of remote villages and the children are kept isolated from the local community.
The Johnston family spend an afternoon in the park. It is common for children in the Ukrainian orphanage system to never leave the institution and many of the children there have no opportunity to ever go outdoors.
The Johnston family spends an afternoon in the park. It is common for children in the Ukrainian orphanage system to never leave the institution and many of the children have no opportunity to go outdoors.
The Johnston family unpack their van before attending their Sunday Church service and pot luck lunch. The 4 adopted children are nonverbal. Anna, 15 from Ukraine, needs to be transported in a stroller while hooked up to a feeding machine. Miriam, 13 from Ukraine, either needs to be in a stroller or use a walker. Slavek, from Ukraine, is blind and either needs to be in a stroller or walk while holding on to someone or something. A simple trip requires at least an hour of preparation.
Anna is loaded into the van for a family excursion to a restaurant and the park. She requires a feeding tube and a stroller and needs to be carried when not in the stroller. Loading and unloading the family takes time and Chris and Julianna may repeat the process several times a day as they attend to family business and activities.
Chris relaxes on the couch with Miriam. In the months since she came from Ukraine, she has built a trusting relationship with the family. While in her orphanage in Ukraine, she was never held and received minimal physical contact. As a result of the newfound affection, she has stopped potentially harmful self soothing behaviors.
The Johnston family celebrates Chris's mother's birthday with friends and family. The 4 adopted children, who had no sense of belonging to a family or community while living in theiir respective institutions, are well integrated into their new family.
Miriam, supporting herself on the piano, is encouraged to stand on her own as often as possible in order to build up her strength. She prefers to do this in the kitchen where she is often rewarded with food to keep her motivated.
Slavek, who is blind, enjoys moving his face in and out of the warmth of the sun. Many children in Ukrainian institutions are not permitted to go outside at all.
Julianna bathes Miriam as part of the daily routine. Despite being nervous in the shower, Miriam has slowly built up trust and is learning to enjoy the process.
Miriam sleeps peacefully after a long day full of activities and exercise. In her orphanage she spent almost her entire day in a crib, sometimes restrained, and without physical contact, stimulation, or exercise. Many children living in her former institution under the same conditions require a sedative to sleep at night.