Hi! My name is Yana, I'm from Kyiv, Ukraine. Currently live in France.

Photography is one of my biggest passions because it allows me to keep moments that can never happen again frozen in time, preserved forever.

Some people say: "Put away your phones/cameras, live in the moment!", but for me taking pictures IS living in the moment. It allows me to focus on what's happening in front of me more, to notice more details, to see more beauty, instead of being lost in the chaos of my thoughts. It creates more reasons to interact with others, to laugh and to LIVE. Besides, memories fade away with time and stress, but photos do not, and with them I can relive those moments over and over again.

Moreover, photography allows you to capture a fleeting moment of someone's smile, laugh and inner beauty, which a person themselves may never have noticed before, so with those photos you can show them how they look in your eyes. It allows you to create a story, a character, an emotion, to show others the beauty you see or wish to see in the world, and thus it allows you to share a part of your soul.

I have been having fun with taking pictures since 9 years old when my father gave me his old point-and-shoot Canon camera, and learning to do it on a more serious and professional level since 14 when I finally bought a "bridge camera" Fujifilm FinePix HS30EXR. Later, I started studying art photography at a college in Ukraine where I met my creative friends and kindred spirits (who can be seen a lot on my photos) and where I was able to explore and practice studio photography; and at the same time I bought my first DSLR camera Canon EOS 650D.

I love playing with angles, love experimenting with light (especially with my RGB ring light, which, unfortunately, I had to leave at home; but I hope to resume my experiments in the future). I don't like to be bound by a single genre or a style, so my gallery may look a bit eclectic, but that's the only way of life for me.