About

My name is Anastasiia, and I’m the author and photographer behind Maliovana.

I’m from Kharkiv — the best city. Ukraine was home for almost all my life, until I had to leave in the third year of the full-scale war for safety. I’m not sure I’ll ever find another place I can call home in quite the same way. But never say never — the universe has a habit of laughing at our plans, doesn’t it?

Travelling the world and discovering more of it had always been a dream. Believe me, war is not the reason you want that dream to come true — but here we are. Despite everything, there is still so much beauty in the world that I want to believe in, notice and remember.

Nature, sky, animals, birds and quiet everyday details that somehow make a moment feel alive — these are the things I’m drawn to most. Photography helps slow my thoughts down and brings a calm kind of focus. It lets me keep not only what was in front of me, but the way I saw it — the angle, the detail, the feeling of that particular moment.

My sense of aesthetics and attention to perspective were shaped by my father’s example. He painted and photographed, and I found it genuinely fascinating. From my mother came calmness, the ability to act and respond — and, for the record, she is the most beautiful woman in the world.

That early curiosity eventually led me to philology. I still love the Ukrainian language, languages in general, and discovering how other people live. Photography had been calling to me for a long time too, but for years I hesitated to show my work. I’m still very selective about what I choose to share.

Wherever this road takes me, I keep collecting beautiful things along the way — painted by nature, light, history and time. I was taught from childhood that we should share. So here I am — sharing. I hope you enjoy seeing some of the world through my eyes.