About

Valentina Sinis is a documentary photographer based in London. Her projects gravitate toward the quirky and unusual, portraying offbeat realities and people on the margins with a profound sense of empathy and connection. Her work offers a meticulous yet delicate insight into idiosyncrasies, hidden meanings, and the subtle gestures that are often overlooked or sensationalized, but rarely explored in depth.

Fluent in Chinese, Valentina began her career working for the European Pressphoto Agency (EPA) in China. Her photographs have been widely published in major international newspapers and magazines, including TIME, The Guardian, and La Repubblica. Her work has been exhibited in Europe, Africa and China, and in the past, she was part of the VII mentorship program.

Valentina has received numerous prestigious recognitions and awards. She was selected as one of the 6x6 Europe Talents by World Press Photo in 2019. The following year, she won the Marilyn Stafford Female in Focus Award (2020) and was honored with the Award of Excellence for Issue Reporting Picture Story at POY 2021.

In 2025, she won First Prize at the Istanbul Photo Awards in the Story Daily Life category with her project Were Afghan Women to Unveil Their Tales, which has also been shortlisted for the prestigious Belfast Photo Festival. Additionally, she will soon be exhibiting alongside Susan Meiselas at Photo|Frome.