About
Maryna Syrovatka is a Ukrainian-born photographer whose practice extends across portraiture, staged image-making, and artist books. She lives and works in Bratislava, Slovakia. After a career in law, she turned to photography in 2018 and has worked primarily from her Bratislava studio since 2021.
Working mainly through portraiture, she photographs people at moments when their lives have been interrupted, redirected, or made uncertain. Her practice is rooted in studio encounters, conversations, staged situations, and long-term projects in which personal experience meets wider social realities. She works with both analogue and digital photography, choosing the process according to the needs of each project.
Her debut photobook Don’t Worry, I’m Fine was published in 2025 and was selected for the PHotoESPAÑA Best Photography Book of the Year Award in the First Publication category.
Her work has been featured in Elle Italia, Ukraine: Love+War by FotoEvidence, Fresh Eyes by GUP Magazine, L’Oeil de la Photographie, and PhotoVogue. Her projects have been exhibited and screened internationally, including in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Croatia, Italy, Poland, Ukraine, the UK, Ireland, and Slovakia. Recent recognitions include the LensCulture Critics’ Choice Awards 2026 / Critics’ Pick, the PhMuseum Photography Grant shortlist 2025, PORTRAITS – Hellerau Photography Award finalist 2025, Rovinj Photodays first place 2025, Rotterdam Photo Single Image 2025, and Der Greif × Grisebach: New Positions 2023.
SELECTED AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
2026
- LensCulture Critics’ Choice Awards / Critics’ Pick
- PHotoESPAÑA Best Photography Book of the Year Award / First Publication / finalist
- Photometria Photobook Award
- Kolga Tbilisi Photo / Finalist
- MIA Photo Fair BNP Paribas / Portfolio Parade, Winning Artist
2025
- PhMuseum Photography Grant, Finalist
- Rovinj Photodays, 1st Place
- Portraits Hellerau Photography Award, Finalist
- Rotterdam Photo’25, Single Image Winner
- Cutout Contemporary Collage Festival, Ukraine / selected artist
2024
- FotoEvidence Book Award X Ukraine: Love+War
- Fresh Eyes Talent X GUP Magazine
Earlier
- Der Greif X Grisebach: “New Positions”, 2023
- Tokyo International Foto Awards / Silver Winner, 2022
- Budapest International Foto Awards / Silver Winner, 2021
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS, SCREENINGS AND FAIRS
2026
- PHotoESPAÑA / Space Photobooks Collective, Espacio Cultural Serrería Belga / Madrid, Spain
- Art Kyiv / Lavra Gallery / Kyiv, Ukraine
- Cutout Festival / Lviv Art Center / Lviv, Ukraine
- Tsundoku Book Fair / PhotoIreland / Dublin, Ireland
- MIA Photo Fair BNP Paribas / Portfolio Parade by Erik Kessels / Milan, Italy
- MYPH x Kolo Space / In The Same Air (screening) / Paris, France
- Cambridge Festival / Pop-Up Library by ShutterHub / Cambridge, UK
- Łódż Fotofestiwal / Project Screening / Łódż, Poland
2025
- Cutout Festival / Kyiv National Art Gallery / Kyiv, Ukraine
- Technische Sammlungen Dresden / Hellerau Photography Award 2025 / Dresden, Germany
- Rotterdam Photo Exhibition / Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- MMC Multimedia Center / Rovinj Photodays Finalists’ Exhibition / Rovinj, Croatia
- Photobook Café / “Love” / London, UK
2024
- Haute Photographie x Fresh Eyes / Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Grisebach Auction House X Der Greif / Berlin, Germany
- La Grande Vitrine X Profifoto / “Beneath the Surface” / Rencontres Arles OFF, France
Earlier
- Fjužn Festival / Project “Don’t Worry, I’m Fine” / Bratislava and other cities, Slovakia, 2022
- Solo / Project “Closed Workspaces: Facing the Unknown” / Bratislava and other cities, Slovakia, 2021
