It was an unusually warm, early June Friday afternoon as Sean and I plopped down into striped deck chairs in London’s Regent’s Park. I first met Sean in 2002 when we were paired together on assignment for Men’s Health magazine to produce a report on male longevity in Martinique and Belarus. He wrote the words, I took the photographs. Twenty-one years later, together we’ve covered stories across India, Egypt, Germany, Israel and many places in between. He’s a trusted friend and I trust his choice in wine. We sipped back a Pouilly-Fumé and chatted about our daughters, current affairs and story ideas.
‘My mate Ben, ex-SAS, says you can fly direct from London to Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, then drive three hours to the war in Odessa, Ukraine,’ said Sean.
‘That’s interesting, we should go,’ I said. A quick Google confirmed the idea and even better, that you could take the bus.
As the French white turned into a Greek Chardonnay, we discussed details, compared diaries and scheduled departure for early July. Over the following weeks I chatted with my editor at Getty Images and consulted colleagues who’d covered the conflict in Ukraine. The advice was unanimous
