@Vladimir Zivojinovic

Zula Rabikowska

zula.rabikowska [at] gmail.com

Based in London, UK and Kraków, Poland

IG: zula.ra

Overview

I am a London-based photographer and videographer who makes documentary work about migration, identity, and LGBTQI+ communities. I specialise in portraiture and often collaborate with artists, authors, creatives and musicians.

I am also regularly commissioned to document events, and workshops using photography and video.

Contact me directly for enquiries about licensing, commissions and collaborations.

Member of the Association of Photographers and Women Photograph.

Select Clients

Microsoft, the BBC, Crisis UK, University of the Arts London, Global Citizen, the Calvert Journal, British Journal of Photography, New Eastern Europe, Dazed, Notes from Poland

Biography

I was born in Poland and grew up in the UK and my documentary practice is influenced by my own experience of migration. I draw a lot of my creative inspiration from my upbringing and heritage and explore themes of displacement, gender identity and LGBTQI+ communities.
My photography practice highlights the complexity of identity by honouring and prioritising stories through an intentional approach. My photographs seek to offer a space for conversation and community building. ⁠

I work with multimedia, film and digital and analogue photography, and incorporate archival images and documents to challenge conventional visual story-telling norms. My work has been exhibited and published internationally. I won the AOP Talent Award and the PDN Award, and am a recipient of the MEAD Fellowship and Getty Images Grant which have enabled me to document contemporary gender identity in Eastern Europe. 

I have always been interested in storytelling and I obtained a BA in English Literature in French and an MRes in Postcolonial French literature from the University of Warwick. I also hold an MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography from the London College of Communication.  

My work was selected by the OPEN20 Moving Image, shown at Winchester Gallery and Enjoy Museum of Art Beijing in China. I have been nominated for the Budapest International Foto Awards, Moscow International Foto Award, Prix Levallois, BarTur Photo Award Leica Magazine Photojournalist of the Year.

My work has been featured by numerous publications such as the BBC, The Guardian, The Calvert Journal, The Culture Trip, Reckless Magazine, South West Collective, Photograd, She’s Got Wonder, Saigoneer, Café Babel, Stories from Poland, The First News, Coolura24, and Londynek.net.

I co-founded the Red Zenith Collective, a platform for womxn and non-binary creatives from Central and Eastern Europe.

Alongside my practice, I also work as a photography lecturer at Kingston University.


Click here to see my full CV