About ALina

Alina Kisina is a Ukrainian-British artist photographer working in the UK. Her special interests include looking beyond the surface of material things and capturing the invisible.

She focuses on inner beauty, transcendence and overcoming challenge, themes especially explored in Children of Vision, her long-term work with Kyiv School for Children with Impaired Vision, for which she received an Arts Council award.

Alina’s work with children in Ukraine inspired her to start an international developmental photography platform for children and young people, also named Children of Vision. This project uses Instagram to discover young talent and showcases photography by young people from 47 countries. Together with special guests from the world of art and culture, Alina has built an accompanying collection of pieces of writing that celebrate the medium of photography and honour the creators, as young as 6 years old.

Alina is a passionate teacher of visual awareness and self-expression through photography, running workshops for children and young people as well as adults. She acts as a mentor, creating opportunities for people outside of the industry (most notably her remarkable student James Fell, whose 90th birthday was celebrated by the launch of his unique collection of street, fashion and portraiture photography!).

Alina has had her work shown around the world. Children of Vision was exhibited at the Mystetskyi Arsenal National Art and Culture Museum Complex in Kiev, Ukraine, as a solo exhibition in 2017 and 2018 and at Diffusion International Photography Festival in Cardiff, Wales in 2019. Other solo exhibitions include City of Home shown at Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow and Light House Media Centre, Wolverhampton, also shown at FORMAT International Photography Festival, Derby and at festivals in Singapore and Syria.

Education and public engagement are central to Alina’s practice. She has been a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton (England), Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (Scotland), and Crawford College of Art and Design (Ireland), and has spoken at the University of Derby (England) and Goldsmiths University (England). Currently Alina continues to deliver public talks, portfolio reviews and participatory workshops.

An Associate Artist at Chisenhale Art Place, Alina runs public masterclasses and workshops with partners including London Photomonth and Whitechapel Gallery.

Since 2014, Alina is the official photographer for the Subtitle Film Festival, Cat Laughs Comedy Festival and Kilkenomics Economics and Comedy Festival in Ireland.

For more details on past exhibitions, publications and commissions click here.

Follow Alina on Instagram to keep up to date!