Ukrainian photographer shortlisted in Royal Photographic Society exhibition for war-time rest image

Oleksii Charey’s image of a moment of rest amid war has been shortlisted for the Royal Photographic Society’s International Photography Exhibition 167, a selection that stands out precisely because it does not chase drama. In a field crowded with conflict photography, the picture’s power comes from restraint: it offers a subtle glimpse of civilian life during war, and that stillness can land harder than graphic imagery.

The scale behind that shortlist gives the achievement real weight. The Royal Photographic Society said more than 10,000 images were submitted to the 2025 open call for IPE 167, with 318 photographers shortlisted from 41 countries. The society describes the International Photography Exhibition as the world’s longest-running contemporary photography exhibition, a detail that helps explain why a place in the lineup carries so much visibility inside the photography community.

Charey’s frame works because it shifts the viewer away from spectacle and back toward lived reality. A moment of rest, especially in wartime, is not empty. It becomes evidence of endurance, routine and the pauses people carve out inside instability. That kind of image can break through war-photo fatigue because it does not push for the most brutal scene on the contact sheet. It asks for attention through composition, timing and emotional control, and those are often the hardest decisions a photographer makes under pressure.

For photographers, the lesson is straightforward: the strongest image is not always the loudest one. A quiet subject can become the anchor if the frame is disciplined, the moment is observed long enough, and the photographer trusts context to do part of the work. IPE 167 was open call, with no restriction on genre, process or technique, which makes Charey’s shortlist even more instructive. In an exhibition that embraces everything from experimental process to documentary practice, a restrained wartime image can still rise to the top on clarity alone.

The call for IPE 167 opened on Tuesday, 2 September 2025 and closed on Tuesday, 9 December 2025, and the exhibition site now says the call is closed. An official Ukrainian initiative amplified the shortlist, adding another layer of visibility to an image already strengthened by the prestige of the Royal Photographic Society’s long-running showcase. Among more than 10,000 submissions, Charey’s quiet pause has become the frame that travels.