Aria Shahrokhshahi – Wet Ground

Shahrokhshahi explores the slippery terrain of Ukrainian identity through an engaged, embedded and poetic approach to social documentary made on the frontlines of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Wet Ground is a long-term body of work by British-Iranian artist Aria Shahrokhshahi, developed through repeated stays living and volunteering in Ukraine since 2019. Made from inside the war rather than in response to it, Shahrokhshahi’s activist approach rejects spectacle in favour of proximity, focusing on the rhythms, contradictions and fragile continuities of daily life shaped by prolonged violence and uncertainty. Shot in stark black and white, Shahrokhshahi moves beyond the visual shorthand of war imagery to present scenes that are often inscrutable, absurd, domestic, performative or oblique. A recurring focus on youth and subculture finding ways to survive and thrive reflects the radical and improvised paths life in Ukraine takes in the present moment. Wet Ground lingers in the spaces around conflict, where threat, loss and anticipation shape the daily existence of a generation of young Ukrainian men and women, even as they continue to carve out moments of resistance, rebellion and joy. The book’s title links Shahrokhshahi's survival of a rocket strike while assisting in a medical evacuation of civilians from a frontline town, where wet ground prevented the detonation of a missile, to the unstable terrain of a country undergoing rapid and violent transformation, in which safety and danger exist in close proximity and the ground itself feels unreliable. Developed alongside Shahrokhshahi’s ongoing humanitarian work in Ukraine and extending the fundraising efforts of his previous publications and exhibitions, Wet Ground is accompanied by his immersive documentary While We Heal , as well as his ongoing sculptural and installation-based works from Ukraine, forming an embodied account of a country resisting erasure while life continues under pressure. Aria Shahrokhshahi (b. 1996) is a British-Iranian multi-disciplinary artist, whose practice has been shaped by a deep fascination with the intricate dynamics of diverse communities and the complexities of the human condition. With a focus on social structures and the human experience, Shahrokhshahi's work serves as a critical exploration of the relationships and power dynamics that inform everyday life. Special Edition also available with print 305 x 280 mm, 144 pages, 70 tritone plates Section-sewn debossed landscape hardcover with tip-on With a poem by Charlotte Shevchenko-Knight Edited by Sarah Chaplin Espenon Designed by Loose Joints Studio LJ221, March 2026 ISBN 978-1-912719-74-7 Prize Shortlisted for the 2026 Book Awards of Les Rencontres d'Arles Launches Aria Shahrokhshahi in conversation with Lewis Chaplin, Peckham 24 London London launch Friday 17 April 2026 6-8pm, The Photographers' Gallery New York Exhibition & Launch, Friday 24 April 2026 6–9pm, Rectangle Room/Primary Photographic, NYC Signing at Los Angeles Art Book Fair, Saturday 09 May 2026 3pm Kyiv launch Friday 05 June 2026, Zbirka Press Wepresent De Standaard DAZED The Guardian 1000 Words PhMuseum El País Fisheye Polka