FEATURED

Precious Moments

Behind the lens with Olena Mandryk Photography

Author/ Being Neighbourly
20 August 2024

I just love babies. It’s a sacred time for the families I meet and sometimes I’m the only person to have seen the newborn —parents aside,” says Olena Mandryk of her work capturing newborn babies. According to her, she might receive a booking as early as two weeks after a child’s birth.

‘Newborn photography’ is the term used to cover the first year of a baby’s life, Mandryk tells me. She also captures mothers-to-be in their pregnant glory, ‘maternity photography’, and, post-delivery, family portraits of parents with their new additions.

The brainchild of model-turned- photographer, the eponymous Olena Mandryk Photography was founded last year, and already enjoys an Instagram following that is in the thousands.

Mandryk’s work is peaceful and serene-looking and she favours the classic, preferring to work in neutrals and black and white, for photos that will never go out of fashion.

A native of Ukraine, Mandryk got her start in the modelling world aged 16 and it was in this capacity that she arrived in Hong Kong in 2009, modelling, while studying for a university degree. She moved to Hong Kong permanently in 2014.

Although she says she learned a lot about props, composition and lighting in her 16-year modelling career, she says she decided it was time to pursue her passion properly, receiving formal photography training with top Ukrainian newborn photographer Elena Ponamareva, and, instruction from her ongoing mentor Victoria Bart; and William Furniss in Hong Kong.

“During Covid, I understood that I wanted to do something more meaningful,” she says.

Mandryk is certified in infant CPR and first aid — although, to date, she’s never needed to use this knowledge. She loves preserving beautiful family moments — lasting legacy — for her clients to enjoy over years to come.