There are events you photograph, and there are events that stay with you.
The inaugural Ukraine FilmFest in November 2022 was the latter. Held at NeueHouse Hollywood — a venue that carries its own quiet gravitas — the evening was organized by the EnoughTea Foundation in collaboration with Maltin on Movies, with a simultaneous event taking place in London. The goal was straightforward and urgent: raise funds for Ukrainian citizens, and use cinema to do it.
I was there as the photographer. And for a few hours, I watched a room full of people sit together in the dark and let Ukrainian stories in.
NeueHouse Hollywood is not a neutral space. Its architecture holds attention, the kind of venue where the light already has an opinion before you walk in. For an event centered on culture and solidarity, it was the right container.
Throughout the evening, attendees moved through screenings of Ukrainian cinema, films that carried the particular weight of being made by people living through something the rest of us were only beginning to understand. Film critic Leonard Maltin was present, lending the event the kind of cultural credibility that reminded the room why cinema has always been one of the most direct paths to empathy.
There was also an NFT auction, raising funds for Ukrainian relief through digital artworks inspired by Ukrainian culture and filmmaking. It was an unusual pairing, emerging technology in service of something very old and very human.
What I Was Looking For Behind the Lens
Event photography is its own discipline. There are no second chances, no re-dos. You’re reading the room constantly, where the energy is gathering, where the light is falling, when someone’s expression is about to shift.
That night, I was looking for the in-between moments. Not the speeches or the auction paddles, but the quieter things: two attendees leaning toward each other during a screening, the way the room collectively exhaled after a particularly affecting scene, someone standing alone near the back of the room with their arms crossed and their eyes bright.
Those are the frames that tell the real story of an event, not what happened, but what it felt like to be there.
On Photographing Events That Matter
I’ve always believed that documentation is an act of care. When an event carries meaning, when the people in the room have shown up for a reason that goes beyond networking or entertainment, the photographs need to hold that.
The Ukraine FilmFest asked something of everyone in that room. The films asked you to pay attention. The auction asked you to act. The collective presence asked you to show up, which in itself is never nothing.
My job that evening was to record that it happened. That people gathered. That they watched. That they gave what they could. Those photographs exist now as a small piece of evidence that the Los Angeles creative community turned toward something difficult and didn’t look away.
Photographing Your Event in Los Angeles
If you’re planning a fundraiser, cultural event, film screening, or branded experience in Los Angeles, and you want it documented with the same care the event deserves, we’d love to hear from you.From intimate gatherings to multi-venue evenings, we bring the same attention and presence to every event I photograph. Explore event photography offerings here or reach out directly to talk through what you have in mind.
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