Meet Iana Tokarchuk

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Iana Tokarchuk. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Iana below.

Hi Iana, so excited to have you with us today, particularly to get your insight on a topic that comes up constantly in the community – overcoming creativity blocks. Any thoughts you can share with us?

When I was a child, I used to make a wish for an idea for my art to come to me in my sleep—and it always did. I should check if it still works 🙂 I spent most of my pastime drawing then, and I think when something fills your days like that, the ideas keep coming because a little part of you is always there.

Today I feel that inspiration comes through process for me, so when I take pictures I want to do more of that. I did take a couple of breaks in about 20 years I do photography, and after a break it may feel awkward a bit, but I know that to find a way to create I just need to start creating.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I’m a photographer from Kyiv, Ukraine, currently based in the LA area. I started doing photography as a teenager and had my first magazine publications at 19, working with Ukrainian fashion designers. I began shooting film in 2018, which kind of saved me from burnout at the time—that’s also when I started working on my Nude Series, the project that’s closest to my heart. My favorite subject is femininity.
In 2022, I left Ukraine, fleeing the war with my cat Mishanya, and moved to Paris first, and then to Los Angeles. Around that time, I started Gentle Retouch studio, which turned out to be pretty successful and now the studio works with beauty and fashion brands across the world.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I think the ability to see beauty was what shaped my path from the very start—and it’s something that can be developed through paying attention.
But there were two skills I didn’t have at the beginning and had to learn the hard way: being open to making mistakes and accepting that you don’t know everything. If someone struggles with mistakes or, let’s say, has a hard time letting go of perfectionism, my advice would be to get curious about psychology I found my answers there and maybe try having open conversations about mistakes with your community. It really helps to realise you’re not the only one who struggles.

Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?

My ideal client is probably a fellow photographer 🙂 Photographers understand exactly how the creative process works, and they hire you for you—for your style specifically. They never ask you to mimic something else.
Some creatives want to meet every need, but I feel happiest working within my niche, I even make mood boards out of my own work now. Someone who wants exactly that—and who trusts me and my process—is the perfect client for me.

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Image Credits

Iana Tokarchuk

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