Katya Ilina

Katya Ilina is an artist, photographer and filmmaker based in London. Her works explore themes of identity, human experience and gender expression. She captures candid impressions that immerse the viewer in the interconnectedness of times, cultures, and facets of the self.

Central to Katya’s work is the desire to challenge barriers that divide, turning her lens to overlooked stories and imperfect yet universal aspects of our shared humanity. Her images fuse spontaneity with conceptual depth, weaving rational and irrational moments together into revealing, open-ended photographs. Katya often works with women and queer people, emphasising empowerment, joy and self-determination.

Katya has exhibited in the UK, France, Germany, Canada, and South Korea. In 2021, she won the third prize at The National Portrait Gallery’s Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize. In 2023, Katya’s works were published in Portrait of Britain Vol.6 book by British Journal of Photography and Bluecoat Press. She studied Photography at Toronto Metropolitan University (Canada) and University of Westminster (UK).