Intern Profile: Irynka Hromotska

This week, Ukrainian Fulbright Student and photojournalist Irynka Hromotska wrapped up her summer internship at Magnum Foundation.

During her time in New York City, she supported Magnum Foundation’s events and grant application cycles while pursuing her project profiling the Ukrainian immigrant community including dissidents and activists in the city. In the fall, she’ll be returning to the Missouri School of Journalism to complete the final year of her Master’s degree in photojournalism.

“What I realized at Magnum Foundation is that I do love working behind the scenes, and I get gratification working with other people and the chance to give opportunities to photographers. For people from communities to be able to tell those stories. Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine started, I started seeing pictures of my country in publications around the world. What was very painful was that I rarely saw the work of Ukranian journalists there. This internship made me realize that the thing that I am most passionate about is representation. I don’t believe in ‘giving voice to the voiceless’. People have a voice, they just need access to platforms where they can be heard. The difference is between talking for people and giving them access to spaces where they can be heard.”

We’re so grateful for Irynka’s presence on our team this summer, and look forward to all that’s in store for her! To follow more of Irynka’s work, visit Hromotska.com