Vanja Bučan is an award winning Slovenian photographer, who lives and works in Berlin. She graduated at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague at the department of documentary photography, however, she distanced herself from the straight documentary genre after her studies and focused on staged photography instead. Before becoming a professional photographer, she studied sociology at the Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana, and actively took part in environmental activism, which is evident conceptually in her artistic oeuvre. She views photography as an open medium, a realm where she can freely express her views and critique of society.In her signature artistic style, she alters her own photographs and places them in staged compositions in order to achieve deconstructed and multifaceted realities that generate a visually rich expression, which verges on fiction.
Her work has been awarded and exhibited at several major international group exhibitions biennials, and solo shows. Among some are Kunsthaus Wien(AU), Benaki Museum with Athens Photo Festival, Biel Fototage(CH), Circulations(s ) Festival(FR), CAFA Art Museum Beijing, Lishui Art Museum, Photo London, Photo Basel, Talent Latent(SP), Viennacontemporary,(AU) Vento Solar (BR), Leica Gallery Wetzlar(DE) and more.