Biography

Olga Tarabukina, an art photographer born in 1983 in Ukraine, first studied Philology at the University of Kyiv, Ukraine, and ten years later Media Design at the Medienschule Babelsberg in Potsdam. Her artistic work originated in literature in her hometown. She wrote short stories in which she engaged with existential themes. In 2005 she moved to Potsdam and began searching for new paths in visual storytelling. In 2013, her short film was nominated for the final of the IKZ Short Film Festival Potsdam “Extremism – No Thanks.”

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She has worked for many years as a communication designer for the Berlin fashion industry. Increasingly, she finds her artistic expression in photography, in search of an aesthetic that reflects emotional life in its vulnerable sensibility.

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At the end of 2023, she initiated her project “Self-Portrait of Fear,” which, through an ongoing photographic experiment of naked exposure, explores inner fear and gives it visual form.

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The new photographic project “Freedom Island” was launched in 2024. It addresses inner worlds, meditative calm, and the creation of strength from within. The stylistic visual language is strongly influenced by Impressionism. Contemporary authors, such as Sally Mason, have also left their imprint on the technique used to create this series of nine images.

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Portraiture is also part of the artist’s field of interest. This led to the philosophical project “Beauty Secret” (2024–2025), in which the artist invites the viewer into a dialogue about the perception of female beauty. The project is closely connected to the earlier project “Self-Portrait of Fear,” but in contrast is executed in black and white so that color does not distract from what is essential.

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A new dimension of visual language emerges in 2025. After the reduction of color, the tendency toward simplification moves in the direction of abstract forms. As sources of inspiration, the photographer draws on the works of Cubists and Suprematists as well as the art of Wassily Kandinsky. Thus, the new project “Abstract City” was conceived and launched. With the help of the urban environment and architecture, the photographer develops another abstract level of perception.

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Over the past two years, Olga Tarabukina has participated in numerous exhibitions in Germany. In addition, she exhibited in 2025 in the exhibition Iconic, Imagination Paris at Galerie Joseph Chapon 17 in Paris.