"Palina Turko is a kitsch art photographer primarily specializing in portrait photography, film photography, and collages.
Born in 1995 in Stolbtsy, Belarus, Palina received her first film camera at the age of 11. By the age of 15, she had completed her musical education in guitar at a music school. During this time, she saved up money to purchase her first SLR camera. Palina travelled to Minsk weekly by train for her initial photography classes.
In 2012, at her parents' insistence, Palina enrolled in Belarusian State University, specialising in Customs Affairs. In 2017, after graduating, she worked for six months as a customs logistician but resigned, feeling out of place.
In 2018, Palina co-founded the art project ZZya, participating in festivals such as Vulitsa Jezha and Vidak. In the summer of 2020, she resumed her photography studies at Blenda Photo School in Minsk. Exploring various genres like food photography, love stories, and wedding photography, Palina sought to find her unique style. Simultaneously, she invested considerable effort in building her portfolio.
By a stroke of luck and entirely unexpectedly to herself, Palina was invited to study at the Warsaw Academy of Photography in 2021. Relocating to Warsaw, she found her photographic direction through the Academy's classes and creative environment. A year later, Palina successfully concluded her studies with a project centred on her fear of death, an ongoing theme in her work.
In 2022, Palina took part in the opening of the Heart Breaking Performance exhibition, Hachu Dadomu, held at the Belarusian Youth Hub. Despite not knowing Polish, she received a commission to photograph for a Polish animal activist, and her work was featured in the March '22 edition of Polish Glamour.
In October 2023, Palina began working as a mediator at exhibitions in the Wilanow Museum. Continuing her practice as a portrait photographer, Palina invents her own visual world filled with paper ""crafts."