Alina Smutko
documentary photographer
I'm a documentary photographer, currently a stuff photojournalist in Reuters. Based in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Main part of my professional activities now is news coverage, mainly about war in Ukraine. As well I'm interested in visual storytelling and developing long-term projects, which are concentrated on a post-conflict zones, historical memory, and national identity. The main areas of work are Ukraine (I worked a lot in Crimea after Russian occupation during 2016-2019), and South Caucasus. I also worked on a project on social issues, which connected with motherhood, orphan diseases, and palliative care.
Education:
2010-2014 – BA, Journalism, Poltava National Pedagogical University, Poltava, Ukraine.
2014-2016 – MA, Media Communication, School of Journalism, Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv, Ukraine.
Internship:
2015 – Ukrainian office Radio Freedom Europe/Radio Liberty, Kyiv, Ukraine.
2015-2016 – photo department Ukrainian Office Thomson Reuters, Kyiv, Ukraine.
2016 – Deutsche Welle, Bonn, Germany.
Exhibitions:
2015 – the exhibition of The Day newspaper photo contest, Kyiv, Ukraine (collective).
2017 – «The Island C» in Crimean House, Kyiv, Ukraine (personal).
2019 – «The Island C» on Koktebel Jazz Fest 2019, Kyiv, Ukraine (personal).
2019 – «The Dream About White Socks» on Nikon Photo Contest 2019 exhibition, Tokyo, Japan (collective).
2020 – the exhibition with the LaVita Palliative Care Fund, Kyiv, Ukraine (personal).
2020 – the exhibition «Human Rights Situation in Crimea» at the Globsec Security Forum, Bratislava, Slovakia (collective).
2022 – «New hybrid deportation» in La Chambre, Strasbourg, France (personal).
2022 – «New hybrid deportation» at the First Parliamentary Summit of the Crimean Platform, Zagreb, Croatia (collective).
2022 – the exhibition at The CinEast Festival, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg (collective).
2022 - «New hybrid deportation» on The Fotofestiwal Łodz, Lodz, Poland (collective).
2022 - the exhibition of La-Presse.org in Leipzig, Germany (collective).
2022 – the exhibition at the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri, Columbia, USA (collective).
2022 – the screening at Centro de Fotografía de Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay (collective).
2022 – the screening of Georgian and Ukrainian war photography by Tbilisi Photo Festival, Tbilisi, Georgia (collective).
2022 – the exhibition Shoulder To Shoulder: Ukrainian War Photography in public places in Odesa, Ukraine (collective).
2022 – the screening of female Ukrainian photographers at the Sune Jonsson Centrum for dokumentarfotografi, Umea, Sweden (collective).
2022 – «New Hybrid Deportation» under the auspices of Graph CMI Association, Bram, France (personal).
2022 – «The Thin Line» at Safehouse 2 in Peckham, London, UK (collective).
2022 – the exhibition «The Thin Line» and screening of War Photography in Montpellier, France (collective).
2022 – «The Thin Line» in Ottensheim, Austria (collective).
2022 – the screening at The Bayeux Award festival, Bayeux, France (collective).
2022 – «Focus on Ukraine», Hoorn, The Netherlands (collective).
2022 – the exhibition at the Estacao Imagem festival, Coimbra, Portugal (collective).
2022 - “The New Abnormal” at PHOXXI, the temporary House of Photography of Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany (collective).
2022 – «The Thin Line» at The Copenhagen Photo Festival, Copenhagen, Denmark (collective).
2022 – the exhibition in VEMU Estonian Museum, Toronto, Canada (collective).
2022 – the exhibition in OKAPI Galerii, Tallinn, Estonia (collective).
Mentorship:
2022 – the mentoring program for young Ukrainian photographers on photographic storytelling by Odesa Photo Days and USAID, Kyiv, Ukraine.
Publications:
RFE\RL, OpenDemocracy, Deutsche Welle, BBC, Ostpol, Politico, Der Spiegel, Reuters, National Geographic, The Independent, Tygodnik Powszechny, KyivPost, UA PBC Suspilne News, The British Journal of Photography, Suddeutsche Zeitung Magazin.
Staff job:
2023 - currently - Thomson Reuters, Kyiv, Ukraine.
2021 - 2023 - UA PBC, Kyiv, Ukraine.
2016 - 2019 - Ukrainian office RFE\RL, Kyiv, Ukraine.
Work with NGOs:
2022 - BRC, London, UK.
2022 - Save the Children, London, UK.
2020 - LaVita Palliative Care Fund, Kyiv, Ukraine.
Awards:
2015 – the photo contest of The Day newspaper, Kyiv, Ukraine (shortlist).
2019 – one of the «12 RFE/RL Women Who Make Headlines», Prague, Czech Republic.
2019 – Corporate Photo Contest RFE/RL, Prague, Czech Republic (winner).
2019 – Nikon Photo Contest 2019, Tokyo, Japan (silver prize).
Email: alinasmutkoph@gmail.com