Maria Kazvan was born in Lviv, Ukraine. Graduated journalism.
Currently located in Toronto, Canada.
Started taking photos around 15 years ago. Experimenting with art photography first, then started doing portraits.
At the end, turned back to art and conceptual photography.
Videography and stop-motion next, as those media give more freedom for experiments and creative process.
What do I create?
The most important fact for me is to speak. Tell about my own experience, research about the experiences of other people and speak about it all. I wish that the person, which is going to look at my art, listen to it, watch it starts to feel and think about things I am talking about.
I wish people would not pass through my work.
I want to create not only beautiful picture.
It is very important of what is inside.
I am talking about home violence the most.
Also nature. Nature as the place where you can feel yourself good, connected.
Also, life and its finiteness.
I am oriented towards long term projects. Experimenting with media, process, objects, I create surreal, magic realism works.
UAPP is an independent association of professional Ukrainian photographers, designed to protect their interests, support, develop and promote Ukrainian photography as an important element of national culture.
UAPP's activities span educational, social, research and cultural initiatives, as well as book publishing.
UAPP represents Ukrainian professional photography in the international photographic community and is an official member of the Federation of European Photographers (FEP) — an international organization representing more than 50,000 professional photographers in Europe and other countries around the world.
