Country: Italy 🇮🇹
Valentina Sinis is an award-winning documentary photographer and visual storyteller whose work
explores women’s lives, political struggle, and the intimate consequences of conflict. Fluent in
Italian, English, and Mandarin, she works internationally across photography, film, and reportage,
often immersing herself for long periods within the communities she documents.
Her recent projects include The Last Butterflies (2026), focused on Iranian Kurdish women fighters
(HPJ); African Soap: a Struggle for Survival and the Illusion of a Better Life (2025), commissioned
by EMERGENCY in Sierra Leone; and Were Afghan Women to Unveil Their Tales (2024),
examining the situation of women living under Taliban rule. She has also produced long-term
investigations such as Broken Princess (2019–2023), a multi-year study on Kurdish women who
attempt suicide through self-immolation in Iraq, and DollMates (2018), exploring intimacy and
artificial companionship in China.
In parallel with her photographic practice, Valentina works as a producer and director. She is
currently producing a documentary film marking the 10th anniversary of the Yazidi genocide. For
the BBC World Service, she produced exclusive reports on an Iranian Kurdish protester shot during
the Women, Life, Freedom uprising (2024) and on the phenomenon of self-immolation among
Kurdish women in Iraq (2023).
Formerly a photographer with the European Press Agency (EPA) in Beijing (2016–2018), she
covered major stories across China, with publications including TIME, USA Today, The Guardian,
Vogue, La Repubblica, and many others. From 2018 to 2021, she was part of the VII Photo Agency
Mentorship Program, producing work across China, Syria, Iraq, Vietnam, Armenia, Greece,
Ukraine, and Mexico, and collaborating with organizations such as UNICEF and EMERGENCY.
Valentina’s work has been exhibited internationally — including Italy, China, Iraq, the United
States, and at the United Nations in Geneva — and featured in major outlets such as BBC World
Service, RAI3, Videolina TV, and IITV.
She is the recipient of numerous honors, among them:
In 2019, Valentina was selected as one of the 6X6 Europe Talents, by World Press Photo
2020 Honourable Mentions FotoAward - Marilyn Stafford
Female in Focus 2020, Winner
2020 National Geographic Fund for Journalists recipient.
2021 POY Award of Excellence for Issue Reporting Picture Story
2024 Festival Off Arles
2025 Istabul Photo Award Story Daily Life 1st Prize Winner
2025 Fotografia al femminile I AM IO SONO 1st prize short story
2025 AAP Magazine #46 Women Second Place Winner
2025 InCadaques winner
2025 Second finalist 2025 The Luis Valtueña International Humanitarian Photography Award
2026 Finalist Wars Photography Award
2026 Belfast Photofestival Winner
2026 Finalist with 2 project At Kolga Photofestival Award
2026 Finalist SarajevoPhotoFest
explores women’s lives, political struggle, and the intimate consequences of conflict. Fluent in
Italian, English, and Mandarin, she works internationally across photography, film, and reportage,
often immersing herself for long periods within the communities she documents.
Her recent projects include The Last Butterflies (2026), focused on Iranian Kurdish women fighters
(HPJ); African Soap: a Struggle for Survival and the Illusion of a Better Life (2025), commissioned
by EMERGENCY in Sierra Leone; and Were Afghan Women to Unveil Their Tales (2024),
examining the situation of women living under Taliban rule. She has also produced long-term
investigations such as Broken Princess (2019–2023), a multi-year study on Kurdish women who
attempt suicide through self-immolation in Iraq, and DollMates (2018), exploring intimacy and
artificial companionship in China.
In parallel with her photographic practice, Valentina works as a producer and director. She is
currently producing a documentary film marking the 10th anniversary of the Yazidi genocide. For
the BBC World Service, she produced exclusive reports on an Iranian Kurdish protester shot during
the Women, Life, Freedom uprising (2024) and on the phenomenon of self-immolation among
Kurdish women in Iraq (2023).
Formerly a photographer with the European Press Agency (EPA) in Beijing (2016–2018), she
covered major stories across China, with publications including TIME, USA Today, The Guardian,
Vogue, La Repubblica, and many others. From 2018 to 2021, she was part of the VII Photo Agency
Mentorship Program, producing work across China, Syria, Iraq, Vietnam, Armenia, Greece,
Ukraine, and Mexico, and collaborating with organizations such as UNICEF and EMERGENCY.
Valentina’s work has been exhibited internationally — including Italy, China, Iraq, the United
States, and at the United Nations in Geneva — and featured in major outlets such as BBC World
Service, RAI3, Videolina TV, and IITV.
She is the recipient of numerous honors, among them:
In 2019, Valentina was selected as one of the 6X6 Europe Talents, by World Press Photo
2020 Honourable Mentions FotoAward - Marilyn Stafford
Female in Focus 2020, Winner
2020 National Geographic Fund for Journalists recipient.
2021 POY Award of Excellence for Issue Reporting Picture Story
2024 Festival Off Arles
2025 Istabul Photo Award Story Daily Life 1st Prize Winner
2025 Fotografia al femminile I AM IO SONO 1st prize short story
2025 AAP Magazine #46 Women Second Place Winner
2025 InCadaques winner
2025 Second finalist 2025 The Luis Valtueña International Humanitarian Photography Award
2026 Finalist Wars Photography Award
2026 Belfast Photofestival Winner
2026 Finalist with 2 project At Kolga Photofestival Award
2026 Finalist SarajevoPhotoFest