Ilona Szwarc

Born and raised in Warsaw, Ilona Szwarc now lives and works in Los Angeles, California. She holds an MFA in Photography from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut and a BFA from School of Visual Arts in New York City. 

Her work explores ways in which female identity is constructed in current cultural context, as well as processes of socialization of girls and women. Notions of becoming, and concept of the ideal self are at the core of her investigation.

Szwarc has had a solo exhibition at Claude Samuel gallery in Paris and has been shown in group shows internationally – in London, Bilbao and New York. Her work has been featured in numerous publications worldwide including The New York Times Magazine, TIME, The New Yorker, The Sunday Times Magazine, The Telegraph Magazine, Surface China, PDN.

She has won World Press Photo 2013 in the Observed Portraits category, 3rd Prize; PDN 2012 Annual in the Personal Category and has been awarded Grand Prize in the Fine Art category of the PDNedu 2013 contest. She has been selected for American Photography 28 and 29.