The word "cancer" makes people feel frightened, though they can hardly understand what it is. I was diagnosed with cancer on my 29th birthday and It was completely unexpected for me. I didn’t know anything about cancer and couldn’t imagine what way I was to go: from fear for my life to hope for recovery. The state of feeling ill, weak immunity, and baldness instead of my beautiful long hair made me a prisoner in my own house. Environment shrunk to two places - my room and hospital. Space around me became the battlefield, where faith, hope and love struggled with my fears and pain.
Russian freelance photographer and educator. She was born in 1988 in Kaluga, Russia. Her works have been published in TIME magazine, La Vanguardia, Folha De S.Paulo, Russian reporter magazine, Lenta.ru etc. She is an author of solo and many group exhibitions.
Awards Alyona is 3rd Prize Winner of World Press Photo 2019, 3rd Prize Winner of Px3 Paris Photography Prize, Honorable Mention of IPA, Grand Prix & 1st Prize winner of The Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest,, Grand Prix Winner – The Young People In The XXI Century International Contest (Lithuania), finalist of The Circle Of Life contest 2019 (Lithuania). Her pictures were exhibited in Photobiennale Of The State Russian Museum, Baltic Biennale Of Photography Photomania, Volga Biennale Of Photography, PiterPhotoFest and many others. Photos are in collection of Leica Gallery Vienna, The State Russian Museum and Chuvash State Art Museum.
