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Alisa Martynova (b. 1994 in Orenburg, Russia) is a documentary photographer currently based in Florence, Italy. After finishing her studies in Foreign Philology in her native country, in 2019 she graduates from a professional photography three year program at Fondazione Studio Marangoni in Florence, Italy. 

 

She has worked on a number of contemporary stories, such as African migration in Europe, intricate relationship of humans and new technologies. Refusing direct approach to telling the story, she uses photography as a tool for creating parallel worlds and translating reality into the language of symbols, that she extracts from existent stories and the meticulous reserach on them. She is interested by the universal themes such as change, time and space, dreams.

 

She received awards such as Canon Young Photographers award (2019), World Press Photo award in Portraits Series section (2021), UNSTUCK award from Magenta Foundation (2022), LensCulture Emerging Talent award (2023) and Royal Photographic Society Documentary photography award (2023). She was nominated for Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomers award thrice (2020, 2022 and 2023), worked as an artist-in-residency for Planches Contact festival (2021) and Villa Perochon (2023-2024).

 

Her work was exhibited in the festivals and galleries such as Photo Brussels, Cortona on the move, Encontros da Imagem, Planches Contact, La Gacilly photography festival, Italian Culture Institute of Addis Abeba, Fisheye gallery, Reich für die Insel gallery, Leica galleries across Italy, Kuala Lumpur Exposure + festival and Helsinki photography festival.

 

Her work is published by Internazionale, D-Repubblica, Leica Fotografie International, Fisheye magazine and 20er magazine. 

Exhibitions

2025 Hangar Photo Center, ANIMA, Brussels, Belgium

2024 Oxford St. John's College, Nowhere Near, Oxford, the UK
2024 Mosaic Room, High fire in the forest’s heart, Vevey, Switzerland
2024 Villa Perochon, ANIMA, Niort, France
2024 Out of frame, Nowhere Near, Géopolis, Brussels, Belgium
2023 Out of frame, Nowhere Near, Galeria Nueva, Madrid, Spai

2023 OD photo prize exhibition, London, the UK

 2023 (Un)Settled - migration stories in the 21st century by World Press Photo foundation, Nowhere Near, MMAG Foundation, Amman, Jordan

2023 Exposure + photography festival, Nowhere Near, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2023 Helsinki photography festival, Nowhere Near, Helsinki, Finland

2023 La Gacilly photography festival, Nowhere Near, Baden, Austria

2023 Out of frame, Nowhere Near, Villa Altieri, Rome, Italy

2022 Korridor – Preis für Dokumentarfotografie, Nowhere Near, solo show, Reich für die Insel, Innsbruck, Austria

2022 Leica Gallerie Milano, Questo mare è pieno di voci, questo cielo è pieno di visioni, group show, Milano, Italy

2022 Portici public exhibition, via Vittorio Emmanuele II, Nowhere Near, group exhibition, Torino, Italy 

2022 Fisheye gallery, Nowhere Near, group show, Paris, France

2022 In-Cadaques, Nowhere Near, group show, Cadaques, Spain

2022 La Gacilly photography festival, prix Nouvelles écritures de la photographie environnementale, Nowhere Near, group show, La Gacilly, France

2022 (Un)Settled - migration stories in the 21st century by World Press Photo foundation, Nowhere Near, Novi Sad Liberty Square, group show, Novi Sad, Serbia

2022 Eyes on Tomorrow, Nowhere Near, Italian Culture Institute, group show, Addis Abeba, Ethiopia 

2021 Casa dos Cubos, Nowhere Near, group show, Tomar, Portugal 

2021 Encontros da Imagem, Nowhere Near, solo show, Braga, Portugal

2021 Planches Contact, Tremplin Jeunes Talents, artist -in-residency program, Where the sons of eternity singing, group show, Deauville, France

2021 Giovane Fotografia Italiana, Cortona on the Move, Nowhere Near, group show, Cortona, Italy

2021 Giovane Fotografia Italiana, Fotografia Europea, Nowhere Near, group show, Reggio Emilia, Italy

2021 World Press Photo, Nowhere Near, group show, worldwide exhibitions

2021 Istituto degli innocenti, Alien Life Form, Dis-connessi, group show, Florence, Italy

2021 Murate Art District, I guess this river never knew, RIVA, group show, Florence, Italy

2021 The World Within, Photo Brussels 05, Sleeping Pill, Hangar gallery, group show, Brussels, Belgium

2019 PH museum Women Photographers Grant, Nowhere Near, PhotoVogue, group show, Milano, Italy

2019 Cortona On the Move, Premio Canon Young Photographers, Nowhere Near, group show, Cortona, Italy

2019 Les Rencontres d’Arles, Nowhere Near, opening night projection, group show, Arles, France

2019 Blob art gallery, Nowhere Near, Premio Combat, group show, Livorno, Italy

2017 Leica Store Florence, Shared environment, projection, Florence, Italy

 

Awards

2024 Culture Moves Europe, Individual mobility, winner

2024 Intergalactica book award, Nowhere Near, finalist

2024 Romano Cagnoni Award, Nowhere Near, finalist

2024 Belfast photography festival, Nowhere Near, highly recommended by the jury

2023 Royal Photographic Society Documentary Awards, winner

2023 Lensculture Emerging Talent, Nowhere Near, winner

2023 Villa Perochon, 30 years later?, Alien life form, winner

2023 OD prize, Nowhere Near, Open Doors gallery, London, jurors pick

2023 Helsinki photo festival, Nowhere Near, winner

2023 Lensculture Portrait Award, Nowhere Near, finalist

2023 Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival, Nowhere Near, winnner

2023 Leica Oscar Barnack Award, High fire in the forest heart, nominee

2023 Felix Schoeller Photo Award, Nowhere Near, finalist

2023 CAP Centre for African Photography prize, Nowhere Near, finalist

2022 UNSTUCK grant, Nowhere Near, Magenta Foundation, winner

2022 Korridor – Preis für Dokumentarfotografie Innsbruck, Nowhere Near, winner

2022 In-Cadaques, Nowhere Near, finalist

2022 Cortona on the move award, High fire in the forest’s heart, finalist

2022 Aftermath project Grant, High fire in the forest's heart, finalist

2021 Leica Oscar Barnack Award, High fire in the forest’s heart, Newcomers award nominee

2021 Premio Francesco Fabbri, Nowhere Near, finalist

2021 OD-photo prize, Nowhere Near, shortlisted

2021 ISPA Italian Sustainability Award, Nowhere Near, finalist

2021 Bird in Flight, Nowhere Near, finalist

2021 World Press Photo, Portraits Series, Nowhere Near, winner

2021 BUP book award, Nowhere near, shorlisted

2021 Intersection Vol.1, Nowhere Near, finalist

2021 Gomma Grant, Nowhere Near, finalist

2020 The World Within, Sleeping Pill, Hangar gallery, laureate

2020 Leica Oscar Barnack Award, Nowhere Near, Newcomers award nominée

2019 Zine Tonic book Award, Nowhere Near, winner

2019 Photolux Award, Nowhere Near, shortlisted

2019 PH museum Women Photographers Grant,Nowhere Near, shortlisted

2019 Canon Young Photographers Award, Nowhere Near, winner

2019 Premio Combat, photography section, Nowhere Near, winner

 

Publications

2024 Internazionale, Nowhere Near, September issue

2023 Il fotografo, Nowhere Near, October issue

2023 Leica Fotografie International, Hypnerotomacchia Venetiae, October issue

2022 La meraviglia del possibile, LUISS press, 2 issue, FULU MIZIKI

2022 20er magazine, Nowhere Near, January issue, cover story

2022 Fisheye Magazine, Nowhere Near, May issue

2022 D la Repubblica, Nowhere Near, 15.01.2022 

2021 D la Repubblica, Alien life form, Next Generation issue, 17.04.2021

2021 Dis-connessi, Alien life form, Istituto degli innocenti, Catalogue

2021 Giovane Fotografia Italiana, Nowhere Near, Fotografia Europea, Catalogue

2021 The World Within, Sleeping Pill, Photo Brussels 05, Catalogue

2021 RIVA, Murate Art District, I guess this river never knew, Catalogue

2021 LFI Magazine, Nowhere Near, February - March 2021 issue, cover story

2020 Phmuseum blog, The hope and heartache of African migrants, Nowhere Near

2020 LFI Magazine, Sleeping Pill, April 2020, issue

2020 Internazionale Extra Foto, Sleeping Pill,  spring 2020

2019 D-Young special issue, Nowhere Near, 30.03.2019

Talks and lectures

2023 A fair and balanced representation of asylum seekers and refugees in the media, Charter of Rome, Trieste, IT

2023 Fondazione Studio Marangoni, Creative Light course, Florence, IT

2022 Fondazione Studio Marangoni, Creative and Technical writing for artistic practise course (12 h), Florence, IT

2021 University of Minnesota, Guest lecture on documentary photography, Florence, IT

2021 Fondazione Studio Marangoni, Orientation lecture for the third year students, Florence, IT

2021 Terra di Tutti Film Festival, Photography for human rights, Bologna, IT

2021 World Press Photo Expert Talk, Aethetics and Composition in documentary

Interviews and online publications

2024 Internazionale https://www.internazionale.it/magazine/2024/09/19/come-le-stelle-nella-notte

2024 Fisheye Magazine https://fisheyemagazine.fr/article/focus-75-les-cyborgs-dalisa-martynova/

2023 Leica Fotografie International online https://leica-camera.blog/2023/10/02/hypnerotomachia-venetiae/

2022 Fisheye magazine https://fisheyemagazine.fr/article/latmosphere-du-sentiment/

2022 URBANAUTICA https://urbanautica.com/interview/alisa-martynova-nowhere-near/2555

2021 Internazionale online https://www.internazionale.it/notizie/giovanna-d-ascenzi/2021/07/23/galassie-vicine-alisa-martynova

2021 Seeds of Florence https://seedsofflorence.it/discovery/intervista-a-alisa-martynova-vincitrice-al-photo-contest-2021/

2021 Leica Fotografie International online https://lfi-online.de/ceemes/en/blog/alisa-martynova-nowhere-near-2377.html

2021 Leica Fotografie International online https://lfi-online.de/ceemes/en/blog/alisa-martynova-somewhere-in-the-mountains-somewhere-in-the-sea-2501.html

2020 Leica Camera https://leica-camera.blog/2020/07/20/sleeping-pill/

2020 Ph Museum https://phmuseum.com/news/hope-heartache-african-migrants

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