Aliona Kuznetsova
Aliona Kuznetsova is a Ukrainian-American photographer who lives in San Francisco, California. She was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 1985. Aliona first started photography as a stud portrait photographer while studying at MIPT. After she got her degree, she decided to stay in photography, which she was very passionate about.
In 2009, Aliona moved to Lausanne, Switzerland, and pursued a career in fashion She worked with boutiques as well as model agencies and magazines. In 2012, she had to take a break from work due to a serious illness, and as she returned, she decided to pursue less commercial and more artistic direction, focusing on fashion editorial.
Francesca
In 2016, Aliona moved to the US - first to Boston and then to San Francisco. Here, she continued to collaborate with magazines, now also giving talks about her work. She also started to participate in art showcases and exhibit her work solo and as a part of the group. After moving to San Francisco, she joined Gallery House and later City Art Gallery, a well-known artist co-op in the heart of the Mission district.
Russia’s war in Ukraine become a heartbreaking and awakening moment for Aliona. She used her power as a photographer to photograph and interview members of the diaspora to refle on collective pride and grief. Gallery House hosted a Ukrainian Evening featuring this work in late 2022. Together with Art Bias, Aliona also curated a show of twelve women artists living and working in Kyiv during the war.
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"My name is Aliona Kuznetsova and I am a photographer. I believe that my art is a mashup of everything I saw, felt, thought and experienced. More than this: through all my life – four countries I lived in, dozens of cities I travelled to, a mood disorder I am battling, meeting and parting with my closest friends – my art has been a silver lining that helped me day by day to refine the understanding of who I really am."
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My curiosity came from a diversity of circumstances. My parents are geologists and I grew up listening to tales of their travels; l we spent summers in the countryside growing food for winter. For my parents, it was a way to survive, but for me and my brother, it felt like an amazing adventure. I was always a force of nature, emotional, and strong-headed. These qualities helped me push and go all in with my art. Later, my passions turned out to be early signs of bipolar type 1. When passion and curiosity wore off with medication, I had ,my stubbornness to keep me going. Every day I raised my middle finger to the misery of my reality, and I tried to create. All in all, I believe that my art is a mashup of everything I saw, felt, thought and experienced. Through all my life – four countries I lived in, dozens of cities I traveled to, a mood disorder I am battling, my art helped me to refine understanding of who I really am.
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