About

Valentina Sinis is an Italian documentary photographer whose work focuses on overlooked communities, women’s lives, and the social landscapes shaped by conflict, displacement, and transformation. Working through long-term, research-driven projects, she combines visual precision with an intimate and empathetic approach, building narratives that challenge stereotypes and reveal the complexity of lived experience.

Fluent in Chinese, she began her career in China working for the European Pressphoto Agency (EPA). Her work has been widely published in major international media including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Die Zeit, as well as TIME, The Guardian, Internazionale, and La Repubblica.

She was selected as a World Press Photo 6x6 Europe Talent in 2019 and participated in the VII Mentorship Program. Her work has received several international awards, including the Marilyn Stafford Female in Focus Award, the Award of Excellence at Pictures of the Year International (POYi) in 2021, and First Prize in the Daily Life Story category at the Istanbul Photo Awards 2025 for her project Were Afghan Women to Unveil Their Tales.

The same project has been further recognized with a win at the InCadaqués Photo Festival Open Call 2025, as well as finalist selections for the Luis Valtueña International Humanitarian Photography Award and the Global Peace Photo Award, and has been widely exhibited and screened internationally.

Her work has been presented in major photography festivals and institutions, including Les Rencontres d’Arles (Nuit de l’Année 2025 projection), Festival Off Arles, Photo|Frome (where she exhibited alongside Susan Meiselas), Belfast Photo Festival, InCadaqués Photo Festival, Les Rencontres de la Photographie de Marrakech, and the United Nations Office at Geneva, among others.

Through her practice, she seeks to construct nuanced visual narratives that foreground dignity, resilience, and human connection, giving space to voices often absent from dominant representations.