Born in 1979, Irina is a documentary photographer, originally from Kyrgyzstan. In 1988 at the age of 9, her family immigrated to Germany, where she reached an academic education. Irina studied Maths, German and Theology to become a teacher. During her years working as a teacher in different countries (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Italy, and Germany), she was always fascinated by the diverse biographies and stories of people she encountered. While she lived and worked for five years in Rome until August 2018, she discovered the camera as my instrument to tell these stories. In 2014 Irina began to expand her big passion for photography. She participated as an autodidact in different workshops with Italian and international photojournalists, including Monika Bulaj, Karl Mancini, and K M Asad.
Currently, Irina is based in Warendorf, Germany. She is working on long term projects. Her photographic work focuses mainly on the situation of women and young girls in her birth country Kyrgyzstan. Her work received global recognition and was exhibited internationally like Rome, at the Centre for Fine Arts "BOZAR" in Brussels, Tbilisi, and Jakarta. "I am Jamilia," was shortlisted as a finalist several times.
