In February 2022, during the first weeks of the war, 
photographer and filmmaker Jelle Krings travelled to the western-Ukrainian city of Lviv. As he witnessed tens of thousands of refugees arrive on evacuation trains every day, he saw that railway workers boarded the empty trains and headed back, towards the danger, in a heroic attempt to save more people. Inspired by their courage, Krings spent the next 3.5 years in Ukraine documenting the lives and struggle of the railway community as Russian troops and missiles destroyed their country.

The sorrow and darkness Krings witnessed, stand in sharp contrast to the warmth and quiet resilience of Ukraine’s railway community — the iron people.

 This dynamic is reflected in the design of the project’s accompanying book. Solid, block-like form reflects both the weight and scope of the work. The book moves between the gruesome realities of war and the intimate stories of the railway families who endure it.

 Somber tones and landscapes giving way to the warmth of the carriage interior in the hope of 
travelling towards freedom. The cardboard hardcover with cold cut gives the large object physical and visual weight and adds sharpness. A condensed typeface with specific spacing evokes the sense of moving or travelling. Bright orange titles signal the importance of the subject but also give the entire object the warmth felt throughout it's hopeful stories.