Brief bio
Diana Rudenko is an exhibited wildlife and landscape photographer and conservationist from Ukraine, contributing photographer for WWF International and Born Free Foundation. She also collaborates with NotIvory Foundation as a wildlife photographer and journalist.
Diana started her journey in photography in 2015 shooting industrial sceneries and abandoned places but passion for nature and love for animals defined the main genre of her works – wildlife photography.
When preparing for the next field trip, Diana consults with zoologists to understand the behavior of animals. She visited the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone with a group of scientists to photograph the endangered Przewalsky’s horses and helped to conduct an ornithological research in Danube biosphere reserve. Diana was also member of a field trip in the Carpathian biosphere reserve aimed at examination of anthropogenic deforestation and poaching.
Diana’s main concerns are poaching and illegal animal trading.
Her work “Orphaned Home” is an ode to endangered species. This photo reached the final stage of prestigious Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA) in 2017 in the General category (black and white).
On June 15, 2018, Diana debuted with a personal photo exhibition “Fragile beauty” in Vasyl Pylypyuk photo gallery (Lviv, Ukraine). The exhibition received accolades from renowned Ukrainian artists.Her works were published in various media of Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan and United Arab Emirates.
In April 2019, World Wildlife Fund named Diana Rudenko the Wildlife Photographer of the month.
She founded “Wild Talks” – a series of informal meetings with photography lovers and wildlife activists about the challenges in the wild and peculiarities of photographing animals in their natural habitat.
On September 22, 2020 Diana Rudenko presented her first multimedia installation “Catalog 404: NOT FOUND” at the Ukrainian eco project “Who, if not You?” (Ornament Art Space gallery, Kyiv). She continues to learn and experiment with various contemporary forms of visual art.
Diana Rudenko is also a published poet and professional philologist. You can find a cycle of poems devoted to nature in the Poetry section. She works on several artistic projects and cooperates with other aspiring artists.