Former Belsat correspondent and ethnographic photographer Larysa Shchyrakova, who was forcibly deported from Belarus in September 2025, needs community support. Due to the prolonged “Dublin procedure” in Poland, she is unable to work officially and earn a living. BYSOL told the story of the photographer.
At 53, having found herself in a foreign country after all the trials and losses she has endured, Larysa Shchyrakova no longer considers herself an activist — only a photographer. She has been taking photographs since childhood, when her father gave her a Zenit camera. This is her passion, as is ethnography. She is reviving Belarusian ethnographic photography: photographing people in traditional clothing and taking part in ethnographic expeditions.
Until 2020, Larysa was a Belsat correspondent in Homiel. After the protests ended and repression intensified, she left the profession in 2021 for her own safety and took up ethnographic photography. Unfortunately, this did not prevent the regime from targeting her — in 2023, she was convicted under two criminal articles and sentenced to three and a half years in prison.
While Larysa was serving her sentence, her mother died. She was not only denied permission to attend the funeral, but was informed of her mother’s death only a month later. Larysa’s son, who was a teenager at the time and had always lived at home, was sent to a shelter. The boy could only be taken in by his father, whom he had not seen for more than 10 years.
In September 2025, Larysa was forcibly taken from Belarus to Lithuania as part of a group of 52 political prisoners — three months before the official end of her sentence. Release turned into exile: instead of her native Homiel, home and family, she found herself in a foreign country.
Larysa now lives in Białystok and is awaiting a decision on her application for international protection. She has fallen under the Dublin procedure because Lithuania was her first country of entry and risks being deported back to Lithuania.
Because of the prolonged Dublin procedure, the photographer is unable to find official employment. After her release, she lived in a shelter, and she now needs to rent accommodation. To make ends meet, she can earn money from photography, but this also requires financial investment in equipment, finding clients and training.
The fundraising target is €3,000. The money will go toward three months of rent (€1,200), equipment and gear for ethnographic photo sessions (€800), legal assistance with the Dublin procedure and an interpreter (€600), as well as basic needs (€400).
You can support Larysa Shchyrakova here.