Photographer says street artist used daughter’s picture in pro-Russia mural

Helen Whittle’s photograph and the mural in Mariupol painted by the Italian street artist Jorit, which she said was made without her knowledge or permission. Composite: Helen Whittle/Jorit via Instagram

An Australian photographer has spoken of her pain and upset at what she has described as the unauthorised use of an image of her daughter as the basis for a pro-Russia mural on a bombed-out building in Mariupol.

Last week an Italian street artist, Ciro Cerullo, known as Jorit, announced he had completed the mural, which features a girl with the colours of the flag of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in her eyes, and behind her a falling bomb with the word “Nato”.