Iva Sidash is an independent documentary photographer and visual storyteller from Ukraine. Born in 1995, she focuses on deeply personal narratives shaped by the realities of war. Since the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion, she has documented intimate stories of fragility, resistance, and memory that unfold behind the frontlines.

Her work merges artistic sensibility with documentary practice, revealing the human experience through a lens of emotion, nuance, and resilience.

A graduate of the International Center of Photography in New York, Iva is a member of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers and Women Photograph. She is the recipient of the 2024 Ian Parry Photojournalism Grant, a Women Photograph fellowship, and the Chris Hondros Award at the Eddie Adams Workshop.

Her photographs have been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, INSIDER, Der Spiegel, and The Financial Times. Her exhibitions span both solo and group presentations across the United States and Europe, highlighting her growing
international recognition as a compelling voice in documentary photography.

On episode 291, Iva discusses, among other things:

• Daily normality in Kyiv
• How a car accident led her to street photography
• How she transitioned from street photography to documenting the war
• The power of trying to portray life during wartime
• Ethical concerns
• Her project What Is Unseen and what the title means
• Winning the Ian Parry Grant (and being in that ‘family’)...
• …And the Chris Hondras award
• Going to the ICP in New York
• Her story there about injured Ukrainian soldiers undergoing rehabilitation on Staten Island
• Future plans for other projects she’s interested in, including diaristic work

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